The Crazy Life of Ben Reilly
by Raizen1125
Summary: As a young clone, Ben Reilly had made a lot of mistakes in his short life. However, when a purple god tells you it's time to be better...well, you just kind of roll with the punches. Follow Ben Reilly as he plays mentor to Derek James, and tries not to strangle his AP chemistry students. Slight Spider-Man/DC universe x-over. Jason Todd/Kara, Ben/Galatea
1. Chapter 1

**So hey guys. I decided I wanted to go ahead and write the first chapter of this before the idea left my brainmeat. This is definitely not going to be focused on until I finish No Hero Academia, but the idea is so vivid in my mind that I wanted to throw it out there for you guys to enjoy. Speaking of NHA, the newest chapter is almost finished. I just have to finish it up, and edit. It should be up sometime tonight. Hopefully. Unfortunately, as Bentholomew is not into comics like I am, this will be my first actual 100% solo project. Ben was a creative partner, but I did the writing. I actually debated doing a Naruto story, but I really didn't want to have to deal with people incessantly demanding for a harem fic. Nothing I ever write will be a harem. I'll go ahead and throw that out there. I personally hate them, and find them lazy, not to mention as awful as harem anime 99% of the time. I'm not trying to convince you of my view, merely stating mine, so you won't expect something from me that is never going to happen. Having said that, I will get on with the chapter.**

 **Chapter 1: Is this Real life?**

Ben Reilly was many things. He was the monstrous individual known as the Jackal. He was also the Scarlet Spider. However, most important of all, he was a perfect clone of Peter Parker, at least physically. This meant that he had a boyishly handsome face, hazel eyes, a disarming smile, and brilliant mind. He possessed all the abilities of Spider-Man, but he was more violent in his execution of his abilities and justice. Granted, if the first thing you remember doing was killing a crap ton of your fellow clones, you'd probably be a little twisted in the head too. But that's neither here nor there.

Ben awoke with a pounding headache. He didn't know where the hell he was, or how long he had been unconscious. He found himself in a room that resembled a space station interior, and it was lined with a number of monitors showing various events he didn't recognize. He especially didn't recognize the heroes he was seeing. One was dressed in red and blue spandex, with a red cape and shield bearing the symbol of S at its center. Another resembled a bat, and fought with ferocity and martial prowess. Another was a Woman wearing armor that resembled Ancient Grecian battle attire, wield a sword and shield with a lasso hanging at her hip. Another showed a man in a red suit running at impossible speeds, taking out criminals and monsters by the hundreds in mere seconds. There were dozens more, each hero showing prowess and a call to a higher cause beyond themselves. It was...inspirational, and caused Ben to feel rather guilty for his actions as the Jackal. Before he could delve into self-loathing, he noticed a rather intimidating figure that just happened to be staring at him blankly.

So naturally, Ben decided that staring back at the purple figure in front of him, was the most logical course of action. He doesn't remember how he got here, because one minute he was fighting the hero team known as the Slingers. Then, he is standing before a purple guy in armor other than the Mad Titan.

" **Benjamin Reilly." It spoke in a commanding voice. "The Monitor has need of you."**

This caused Ben to blink, derailing his thoughts completely.

"You know, kidnapping is a rather odd way to ask for help." Let it be known that Ben had definitely inherited his "father's" ability to make quips. "You could have just said 'gee Ben, you think I could get some help?'"

" **Madame Webb mentioned your tendency to make odd remarks to yourself. No matter, we specifically asked her for one of her Spider-kin, and she delivered you to us."** The Monitor spoke in its booming voice, causing the air around them to quiver as if the very fabric of reality itself bent to this being's will.

"Wait. You mean the old lady GAVE me to you? That's got some weird connotations to it, and Ben doesn't like being given to anyone. Wait, did I just refer to myself in the third person?" Ben rambled on, definitely confused by the overall situation he found himself in.

The Monitor, howver, took this in stride. " **I see you have questions, Mr. Reilly. We will do our best to explain why you were brought before us."**

" **You see, the universe that runs parallel to the one you in habit is on the precipice of a cataclysm. It has different heroes, and different beings of power as well. There are no Avengers, and no Spider-Man either. In fact, it is rather different in many regards. Individuals with powers such as yours are not ostracized and hated, at least to the degree they are in your world. Many are seen as heroes, while others have delved into villainy. The main difference, is that there have been no attempts to eradicate them or lock them up. They aren't seen as subhuman. Rather, these 'meta-humans' are viewed as the next step in human evolution. In fact, some of these abilities have brought on awareness of the multiverse to select mortal individuals. For example, the hero known as the Flash has visited many different worlds. However, this was not without consequence. Due to a series of events that revolve around the hero known as Batman, the positive Multiverse is currently under siege by denizens of the Dark Multiverse. At the helm of these forces are the Dark Knights, powerful and evil incarnations of Bruce Wayne, who all fight under the banner of dark being known as Barbatos. However, it is not so much these events that are important, as it is the consequences they will result in."**

It was here that all the screens in the Monitor room turned to show a single teenager. This teenager was of Puerto Rican decent, and was fiddling with waves of energy at his finger tips.

" **This boy is known as Derek James. He is crucial to the fate of this universe. Whether he knows it or not, his power to create rifts in space and time makes him one of the most power beings in this plane. Many will come after him because of this. Some human, some not. We need you to be a guide to the boy. Show him how to be a hero, and how to remain humble despite his overwhelming powers."**

Ben stood in silence, processing what he had been told, synapses firing in his brain at rapid speeds. "So let me get this straight. You want me, the guy who cloned terminally ill people and replaced said ill people with aforementioned clones, to teach a guy to be a decent human being. Since you seem fairly robotic, I'm going to borrow one of your people's phrases and state DOES NOT COMPUTE!" Ben ranted, clearly finding the entire scenario to be utterly insane. Okay, sure the kid's costume resembled the various Spider-Men...But that doesn't mean he should agree out of principle!

" **The boy is very similar to Peter Parker and yourself. He lost his adoptive Mother. She was the equivalent of your Uncle Ben."** That statement caused Ben's mind to grind to a halt for a second. " **We know of what Madame Web and Death spoke to you of. Your soul is at risk, Ben Reilly. Should you stay on your current path, your soul will darken completely, and you will lose yourself. This is the best path you have for redemption. For all your faults with Peter Parker, you do idolize him. Ben Reilly, without you, Derek will be ill equipped to handle the trials that face him. There is a threat looming behind the veil of events, one who tugs at the strings of reality to an extent we have never seen before, and Young Derek is the key to stopping him."**

Ben bit his lip hard. This was not an easy choice. When he decided he wanted to become better, he thought he'd have the chance to right his wrongs in HIS world. Not some other universe that he knows nothing about.

"If I do agree, then how the hell am I supposed to integrate into society? If the heroes here are just a smart as the ones back home, then I'll be discovered immediately."

" **That is not a problem. We can make so you have always existed in this plane. You are Ben Reilly, an orphan who used his brilliant mind to push himself through school, graduating at 18 from Princton University on full scholarship with honors, with a Bachelor's in biochemistry, and Master's in genetics and chemistry. Currently enrolled in a Doctorate program while teaching chemistry at Gotham High School. Current age? 26."**

"...Why do I have to be a teacher while Peter is a CEO billionaire?"

" **That is not our concern. You will fit in seemlessly, and you will not stick out too much. This world is filled with geniuses, so you will fit in just fine. One last thing, you cannot bring your Spider name with you."** The Monitor noticed Ben's confused expression, so it elaborated. " **You are technically outside of the Spiderverse. So you cannot be a Spider-Man, so you need a new name, if you wish to be hero in your free time."**

Ben just thought on the offer. This was his shot at redemption. All he had to do was help some brat become a great hero. He'd essentially become Phil in Disney's Hercules.

"Fine. I'll do it. After all, how hard could it be?"

Oh if only he'd known how evil AP chem students could be. Not mention the scarcity of spider hero names that couldn't use the word spider.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Alright class. So today, I don't really feel like teaching so I want you to google a drug of your choice, and figure out how to balance a chemical formula for the creation of that drug. You have the class period to do it." Ben kicked back behind his desk. He'd been a teacher at Gotham High for approximately a month now. He was considered a "cool" teacher. His laid back persona combined with his youth and knowledge made him a hit with the kids. Plus the fact he showed up to his first class dressed like Jesse Pinkman probably helped a lot as well. He observed a pair of students that seemed to be struggling. "Mr. James, Ms. Edgars, a moment please."

The pair in question glanced at each other before getting up and walking to his desk. Derek James was hipster looking teenage male of Puerto Rican decent. His wave brown hair meshed nicely with his tan skin. He wore a beanie, a hoody, and cargo shorts, giving him the appearance of a hipster. Ernie Edgars, on the other hand, gave the appearance of a prim and proper student, albeit one with a slightly lazy demeanor. She wore her blonde hair in a messy pony tail, and her alabaster skin shone like it was carved from marble. She wore a sweater vest, a tie, and a plaid skirt. Both students stood awkwardly in front of him, but it was Ernie who spoke for the duo.

"Yes, Mr. Reilly? What did you need to see us for?" Ben cut his gaze to her for a moment, before leaning back in his chair.

"You too seemed to be having issues with the assignment. While this was just a 'for fun' activity, I do hope that you can make some progress on it. Do you have any questions?" Ben spoke in his teacher voice, which given his unprofessional posture, sort of gave the students mixed signals.

"Well, um, we didn't want to do it on a drug exactly. We actually wanted to do it on this substance that we heard star labs was working on." At this, Ben raised an eyebrow. He'd chosen drugs because they were easy to find formulas for on the internet, if only from overly zealous chemistry nerds like himself with too much free time. But what they were asking about was high end chemistry work.

"Oh? Go on, I'm rather intrigued."

At his encouragement, Ernie continued. "Well, sir, the substance is called Velocity 6. It supposedly mimics the powers of the hero Flash, and temporarily provides super speed to the user. However, it also causes rapid cellular degradation in frequent abusers."

"So you're asking if you can use that formula for the assignment?" At the prompt, Ernie and Derek nodded. "Well I don't see why not. It's certainly more productive than looking at 20 other students trying to balance an equation for making meth."

At his words, several students had the decency to look sheepish, while Ernie and Derek beamed at the praise.

"Well, get to it." He shooed them off, leaving himself to his thoughts.

'I'll have to approach Derek about his powers soon.' Ben thought to himself, wondering about the specifics of how to approach the teen.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ben had decided to go web swinging after school let out, if only to let off some steam. He'd thought his comment about groups using the same drug would make his students change substance for the assignment, but he was wrong. He was still handed in 14 different attempts to balance an equation for making meth.

"Jeez. Maybe they read too much into my dressing like Jesse on day one of classes..." Ben muttered to himself, eyes scanning for something to do. Just as he was about to give up, the heavens saw fit to bless him with a mugging. "YES! I finally get to beat the crap out of someone!" The mugging in question involved a burly yet stupid looking fellow with a knife, and a woman around 25 who was very clearly dressed like a police detective or something. Either way, going off body language, Ben doubted she was reaching into her purse for cookies. Figuring he'd save the lady the trouble of shooting the idiot, he decided to intervene.

He flexed his muscles a bit, causing them to ripple under his suit. It was a pretty high tech piece of work. He'd made it using materials he'd...borrowed from Wayne Enterprises and Star Labs. He didn't take much, but his misadventure did land on the cover of the Gotham Times. At any rate, his new suit was vastly different from his Scarlet Spider outfit. This one was solid black as opposed to solid red. It had a red spider symbol that greatly resembled Peter's Venom suit design, with the legs wrapping around his torso. Around his mask was a black hood with red webbing patterns, much like the suit he'd lifted from that cosplayer in Las Vegas, just with a different color scheme. Suffice to say, he looked very slick in his new threads. The fact it happened to have night vision lenses, an onboard AI, and a variety of gadgets in addition to being bullet proof was just icing on the cake.

As he finished primping over himself, he dropped down to the soon to be unconscious mugger.

"So hey there buddy. Whatcha doin'?" Ben asked the mugger in a cheerful voice. This caused the guy to look at him in a confused manner.

"You're not the bat. Who the hell are you?"

"Why, I am so glad you asked, and may I say your observational skills are quite astute. As you said, I am certainly not a bat. My symbol is a spider. As such, you may refer to me as the Amazing Arachnid! And I'm here to thwart your dastardly plans of robbing this lovely young lady!" At this, said lovely young lady blushed a bit, and stopped reaching for her conceiled firearm. She wasn't going to kill the guy. Just...maim him...a little.

"Whatever, weirdo. Buzz off. I'm having a chat with the lady." The mugger brandished his knife in a threatening manner, before turning back to the lady who was about 3 seconds away from putting a hole in his foot. However, Ben was not willing to be ignored so easily, so he tapped the guy on the shoulder. As the mugger spun around to stab him, probably for being annoying, Arachnid just sucker punched the guy in the face, and sent him into a dumpster at the end of the alleyway. He shook his hand a bit before tipping a nonexistent hat to the not so helpless mugging victim.

"Ah, I believe you no longer need to worry about the pros and cons of shooting that fool, ma'am." She raised an eyebrow, which illustrated her confusion. Now that he was closer, Ben got a real good look at her. She was a rather attractive looking woman, with wavy light brown hair, and warm blue eyes. He could see a badge hanging from a lanyard around her neck, but he could read the name from the angle.

"I don't think I know you." She spoke calmly, clearly wondering if he was a real superpowered hero or just an idiot in spandex.

"Ah. I can tell from your skeptical expression and your statement that you are wondering just who I am. Well, you just so happen to be the first person I've saved in costume!" At this, he struck up a gallant pose, which made the woman's eyebrows shoot up even higher.

"So I see. And you said your hero name was Arachnid?"

"Indeed I did, miss...?"

"Spivot. Patty Spivot, CSI." She held up her badge, which displayed her rather lovely visage and credentials quite clearly.

"Ah! A CSI! How fortuitous! Perhaps we shall cross paths in the future, Miss Spivot!"

"Just call me Patty. And knowing you hero types, I'm sure we'll run across each other sometime. Just watch out for Batman. He tends to get a bit...jealous of other heroes in his town." With that, she turned around, and walked towards the mouth of the alley.

As they parted ways they each had their own thoughts.

'Man, what a weird guy.'

'Man, what a nice lady.'

To Be continued.

 **So yeah guys. Here's my new story idea. I dunno when this will be update again, only that it will be after NHA is completed. Although, to be fair, that only has 4 more chapters at most remaining. The biggest obstacles to finishing it are my grad work. Meaning papers and rather intimidating tests.**

 **I swear I'll finish chapter 14 soon. Please don't murder me.**

 **Raizen out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well guys, it has been months since I updated this fic, which has been painful. This right here is the story I've wanted to write since I thought of it. NHA was awesome and fun, but I am much more knowledgeable about DC, so I'm stoked to be back working on this.**

 **For some of you who find one of my favorite DC crackships in this fic to be a little similar to another writer's named Pootamis, it's because I loved his story so much that it turned into a headcanon for me in regards to the pairing. His story is amazing, and it's fucking adorable to boot. Don't worry, I brought this up to him before I published this, and he gave me his blessing.**

 **ALSO, THERE ARE DARK THEMES IN THIS CHAPTER. VERY DARK. SEX TRAFFICKING, DRUG ADDICTION OF MINORS ARE SOME OF MANY. THESE HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE TRAUMATIC PSYCHOLOGICAL TRIGGERS FOR SOME OF YOU. PLEASE SKIP THE PASSAGES RELATED TO THESE. I WILL MAKE IT VERY CLEAR WHERE THEY STOP AND END.**

 **Most chapters will not be this dark, but I upped the rating to M because of this chapter.**

Chapter 2: Or Just Fantasy?

It had been roughly 2 months since the Monitor had basically thrown Ben into Gotham City. It was weird interacting with people who supposedly had known you their whole life, especially when the person in question didn't exist in the universe until 2 months ago.

"Man, magic sure is weird. You agree with me though, right, Mr. Generic Goon?" Let it be said that Ben enjoyed beating the crap out of the lowlifes of Gotham City infinitely more than he did trying to explain chemistry to a bunch of snot nosed brats. Other than Derek and Ernie, the class was filled with insufferable brats. Though, he had finally managed to meet Ms. Spivot as Ben Reilly rather than Arachnid. Small miracles, which Ben had learned to take when and where he could get them. But he was getting sidetracked, which was pointed out by a goon almost breaking a beer bottle on his face. Almost.

See, Ben had ended up tracking down some joke of a drug dealer named the Ventriloquist. The guy was holed up in some dive bar in downtown Gotham, and that's where Ben was currently performing goon facial reconstruction at. The bar itself was super old, probably from around the 1940s or 50s. Dust and grime coated the walls, and lighting was sparse in the room Ben was currently in. The brown floorboards were creaky and sounded like they could break at any moment. The walls had tattered bits of old wallpaper still hanging from when the place had been new. Whatever stories they might have held, they were now witness to lowest of the low of humanity now. The Ventriloquist was some C-Lister trying to go big, trying to do so by pushing a drug called Fever onto kids at Gotham High. Stuff was bad news. It was like the lovechild of speed and ecstasy, and definitely shouldn't be taken by anyone, let alone kids. Now, Ben hated drug dealers a lot, even by super hero standards. Sure, he joked to his chem students about teaching them to make drugs. But there's a difference between a joke and trying to turn kids into addicts. So Ben wasn't quite sure how much would be left of the scumbag after he had a chat with him. Given the state of the goons Ben had beaten so far, the Ventriloquist would be lucky if he could eat through a straw afterwards. Ben was about to throw a guy out a window for shock value when he heard a gunshot, but strangely, didn't activate his spider-sense. The shot rang out through the decrepit building they were in. Ben didn't see the shot directly, but it was dark enough that the flash from the gun illuminated the room when it was fired.

"You're welcome." Came a raspy filtered voice from behind him, causing Ben to turn around. Standing behind him was a 6 foot tall guy decked in a combination of body armor, a sleek gray leather jacket, red hoodie, and high tech helmet that looked like it cost more than Ben would make in 3 lifetimes. The guy had two nasty looking modified .45 cal handguns, along with a few grenades and combat knives scattered across his person. However, that was the least concerning thing about this gentlemen. No, Ben was focused on the Red Batman like symbol on the guys chest, meaning he had ties to Batman...Though, that was odd, since Bats had a no kill policy, and that guy just turned the wall behind that goon into a Jackson Pollock painting. "I don't recognize you, but given the trail you left, I'd say you found out the Ventriloquist was dealing to kids just like I did. Glad to see we have similar opinions on his business model."

The guy's tone was dark and sarcastic. Which wasn't unusual, given the circumstances that had brought them both here. Ben eyed the guy warily, which the red masked guy seemed to notice. He held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Relax. If I was going to shoot you, I'd have already tried. I say try, because I saw you dodge those goons 9mils like it was nothing." The hooded vigilante chuckled to himself. "While I'm sure my chances are better than theirs, I'm on your side. They call me the Red Hood." The newly introduced Red Hood stuck a hand out, which Ben shook tentatively.

"They call me Arachnid. And by 'they', I mostly mean myself and anyone who us still conscious when I'm finished introducing their face to the side of my foot." This got a laugh out of Red Hood, though Ben pressed on with a question. "So I see you have a Batfamily logo. I thought Bats didn't kill?" This got a darker chuckle from the vigilante.

"You could say I'm a bit of a black sheep with the family." Whatever else he was going to say was cut off when one of the thugs on the ground pulled tried to pull a gun on him. Ben was about to react when Red Hood threw a knife that had been on his right forearm. It caught the thug in the shoulder, which which made the guy both drop the guy and bleed profusely.

"Alright. So let's make a few things clear here, dirtbag. I am not Batman. I could set you on fire with napalm and I wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep over it. So consider that before trying to lie to me." He tweaked the knife a little bit causing the guy to scream in pain. "I think I've made my point. Now, where is the Ventriloquist?"

The thug was terrified of Red Hood, meaning he was not some obscure hero, if the dark stain in the other guys pants was any indication. "H-He's at the pier! He's hosting a party their to lure in teenage girls so he can sell em! He wants to break into sex trade!"

Ben bristled at that, and apparently, so did the Hood.

"He's what?" Ben grabbed the thug intentionally by the wounded arm, causing him to scream. "You have five seconds to spill everything you know about this asshole's plan before the Hood and I play rock-paper-scissors to decide which one of us gets to end you in creative and violent ways."

"He planted some invite at a that highschool in midtown Gotham! He figured he make em addicts to make em easier to control, and the best way to do that was throw a party as a cover! Please, put me down!" If Ben wasn't livid, he sure as hell was now. He threw the thug against the wall to the side, breaking part of the ancient walls. Red Hood whistled in appreciation before he walked over to

"Jack Werner, convicted on two counts of rape, 3 counts of murder, 6 cases of attempted rape. Hate to say it pal, but you earned the bullet I'm about to give. But before you go, fun fact: I only shoot to kill criminals with rapes and murders under their belt. Now, normally, I'd make an example of you. But considering we're in a hurry. So cheers." The Hood shot the thug in the head, causing him to stop moving. Ben and Hood caught each other's gaze, and nodded. They both jumped out of a window and swung back up to the roof. They settled down across from each other, and while there was an air of tension, it was broken when Red Hood reached up and took off his helmet, showing a guy barely in his twenties. He had black hair with a spot of white in middle of his bangs. He had piercing blue eyes, and was handsome in a roguish way. He was about to say something when he was tackled to the ground by a blue of blue and red.

"JASON PETER TODD. YOU TOLD ME YOU WOULD CALL ME BEFORE YOU WENT OUT ON PATROL!" Came a rather enraged female voice. Currently, a blonde woman a few years older than the Red Hood was on top of him. Her eyes had a red glow to them, and she looked super angry.

"Oh come on, doll-" At her growl, he changed his words "Kara, I told you it was just some low level thugs. Nothing to be worried about." Came Jason's smooth reply. He'd moved a hand up to her face and brushed a hand against her cheek. Instantly, her anger faded and she seemed really vulnerable. Honestly, Ben felt awkward as hell for intruding on this moment, albeit unintentionally.

"I heard a whisper that the Joker was back in Gotham and I panicked. I can't lose you. Not again." Her hands gripped his body armor like it wasn't made of rigid bullet proof materials.

"Kara, not even hell could keep me from you. I may have come back from death once, but I'm not going to leave you again. I promise." He then pulled her down into a kiss, which she seemed to melt into. She then dug her hands into his hair but before it go further Ben coughed as loudly as he could."

"Look, I don't know why you think I and by extension anyone else looking at this particular rooftop want to see you two go at it, but I'm in a hurry." The blonde locked eyes onto him, glowing red and shifting into a protective position on top of Jason.

"Babe, as hot as I think you are when you beat the fuck out of people, this guy is cool. And on our side."

Ben sighed, before reaching up to take his mask off, and pull down his costume's hood. He ran a hand through his hair, before speaking "Supergirl. Great. I suppose you're going to take me in for brutality?"

She tilted her head in confusion. "Why would I do that? In case you haven't noticed, my fiance here tends to leave a trail of bodies whenever he goes on crusade."

"In my defense, 100% of the people I kill actually deserve it. And you can get off me anytime, gorgeous. Unless I'm that comfortable?"

Kara glanced at Jason briefly, before her eye twitched, and she flicked him on the nose. Fine. I'm going back to Metropolis to finish my work and then I'll be back at the apartment. Please don't blow anything up tonight, Jason." Jason, for his part, just whistled innocently, a wolfish grin on his face the entire time. Kara shook her head, before flying off into the sky. Jason watched her go, fondness visible in his expression.

Ben coughed to get his attention, "So yeah. Name's Ben Reilly, since we're sharing. And since my students are probably going to end up at this party, we need to move. NOW!"

Ben was irritated, though not at Jason. He pulled out his phone and pulled up the contact labeled 'DEREK JAMES', before hitting the call button. It rang a few times before the line went open, but was flooded with loud bass thumps and dance music.

"Hello?!" came a teenagers annoyed shout from the other line.

"Derek, you need to listen to me, and you need to listen now. You need to get Ernie out. You stop whatever you're doing, and you do that. Don't ask how I know where you are, but you get into a secluded place and rift out of there NOW."

"Okay okay! Going! Hey Ernie come here!" There was some scuffling, followed by muttered curses and a ZZZZZZt sound that meant Derek had rifted them out of the club. "Okay, we're saf-OW!"

"YOU KNOW I HATE IT WHEN YOU RIFT US YOU MOTHER- MMPH" The sound of Ernie's angry voice blared through the phone before it was cut off by the sound her muffled yells before she hummed in contentment.

"If you kids are done kissing, please stay where you are. Or I will fail you on your last test. Or worse, make you tutor one of the jocks." Both teens shuddered and made noises of horror. "Yeah, thought so. Don't test me. I will web you to a ceiling. Gotta go. Will explain later." Ben ended the call just as his students were about to ask for information. He then turned to Jason, who was fitting his mask back on his face. Ben followed suit, before turning back to Jason.

"So we meet there?" Ben asked curiously, unsure if they were going to keep working together. Jason nodded, before he tapped the side of his helmet, and jumped off the roof. Ben looked over the ledge, and saw Jason's fall slowed by his jacket, which appeared to have a built in parachute like system, and he landed next to a sleek red and black motorcycle. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Jason climbed on, and then shot off towards the pier across town. Ben shook his head, and jumped off the roof and began webswinging in the same direction.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Jason landed on the roof a few minutes after Ben did. They nodded in greeting, but quickly focused on the task at hand: Finding and ending the Ventriloquist. Whether that meant his businesses or the guy himself was up in the air at the moment. Whatever they decided, the guy was going to be in a lot of pain. Despite the tense air between them, from the apprehension of what they were going to find, Ben couldn't stop himself from asking the question on his mind.

"So you and Supergirl? That's pretty cool." Ben asked, then stated nonchalantly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. She and I became close when I was Robin. We met when Batman and Superman teamed up to fight Luthor and the Joker who'd enacted some plan in Metropolis. We stopped them, and we became friends as result." His gruff filtered voice took on a tone of fondness that seemed somehow foreign. "We had these little nightly phone calls where we'd talk about what we did that day."

Ben was quiet, as he wasn't used to relationships that had such a quality of innocence to them. Most relationships these days were superficial or centered around sex. It was honestly...sweet. Jason chuckled before he continued.

"One time we actually played hooky and went to some dingy old theater in downtown Gotham. It was one I used to go to with my mom when I was little. I don't even remember what we saw that day, because all we did was make fun of the movie the whole time. We actually got thrown out near the end too, but I'll always remember the smile on her face. I was going ask her out then, but I got called away by Bats before I could." His face darkened then. "I didn't get chance to do it before I died. I rectified that when I came back."

"You said you died..." Ben started awkwardly, but was cut off by Jason.

"Yes. I did. And I'd prefer not to talk about it. Maybe sometime in the future." Jason's tone left no room for argument.

"Fair enough. If it makes you feel better, I've died before too. Not fun." That made Jason look at Ben, who nodded at him.

"Maybe we'll trade stories sometime."

"Maybe so."

Then, without further ado, they leaped off the roof into the air and towards the party where the Ventriloquist was about to make his move.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arnold Wesker, AKA the Ventriloquist, was not so much in control of himself as his puppet's Persona 'Scarface' was. He himself was a balding older man who was very plain in most areas. He didn't standout and was usually mild mannered. But Scarface was everything that Wesker wasn't. The puppet allowed him to express his years of pent up anger and rage at the indignities he had suffered. But he would show them. He would show them all that the Ventriloquist was someone to be feared. What better way to do that than by becoming a crime lord? His thoughts were interrupted by one of his henchmen coming up to him, gun in hand.

"Boss, we finished moving the drugged up chicks to the storage room, and we kicked out the others. Though, some of the younger guys were wondering if they could...sample the goods."

'Savages.' Arnold thought to himself. Ruled by their baser instincts. Sure, he was enabling them, but these girls were an acceptable sacrifice in his journey towards crimelord status. He scoffed, before turning his puppet towards the man. "Fine, but don't do any permanent damage." The puppet's mouth moved, its face appearing menacing. The minion nodded, before going back to tell his friends the good news.

The Ventriloquist didn't know it then, but his aspirations and his life, were about to be cut drastically short.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Hood, you in position?" Ben whispered into his coms. His suit's onboard AI was hacking into the various cell phones inside the building, and forcing them to emit low frequency noises to essentially function as sonars to reconstruct the layouts and positions of people inside. So far, he counted a total of 20 guys inside, not including the Ventriloquist himself who was separate from the others. 'Probably too self-important for grunt work,' Ben mused to himself.

"Yeah, I just finished having a chat with the last of the external guards. They won't be hurting anyone anymore." Jason's voice replied through the coms in Ben's suit. "How many are inside?"

"20. But if you'll let me, I can use bluetooth to transfer this file I made that turns phones into sonar field generators. You can use it to reconstruct roughly every 3 seconds provided there's a phone to emit a signal." Ben offered his new 'partner'.

"Do it. I've been looking for an alternative to using signal dart cartridges from my pistol. They're too finicky."

"It'll only take a second." With a few taps on his wrist's keyboard, the program was sent. "There, it should have installed on your helmet's HUD."

"Got it. Thanks." There was a pause, presumably so Jason could analyze what he was seeing "You take the group near the back. I don't like the way it looks or how they're crowded. If that means what I think it does, then you need to move immediately."

"I'm assuming that means you'll be handing the other 10 generic henchmen?" There was a sickening snap on the other line, and some gurgling.

"9, actually. Happy hunting."

With their plan set, Ben then moved on the rooftop towards a duct and entered the building through the AC pathways. Working his way through the tight and dirty airducts, he quickly found himself above the a group of 9 goons. They were standing around a door, and they were playing rock-paper-scissors. He climbed out and observed on the ceiling for a moment.

 **WARNING POTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL TRIGGER WARNINGS SKIP TO NEXT SECTION IF YOU AREN'T COMFORTABLE**

"Man, I can't believe we let Vance go first." One said to another.

"Yeah, lucky bastard. That girl was so fucking strung out." His friend answered

"Don't worry, you'll get your turn." A third told them.

Ben chose this moment to blow the power in the building using a remote charge Jason had planted. The lights shut off. He chose this moment to speak out in the darkness.

"Actually, none of you are leaving here alive. I was going to just break or maim you guys. But when I found out you were going to gang rape a bunch of fifteen year old girls strung out on your drugs?" Ben took this moment to webline a guy to the ceiling, before breaking his neck, cutting off his screams prematurely. "Now, I'm going to enjoy killing you, and it will not be painless."

This set the punks into a terrified frenzy.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?!"

"IS IT THE BAT!?"

"OF COURSE NOT MORON, IT'S THE FUCKING RED HOOD! BATS DOESN'T KILL!"

"OH FUCK OH FUC-YAAAAAAAH" A thug was grabbed in the darkness and his gun went off causing strobe effects when the flashing lights, which made the atmosphere even more terrifying. Ben broke the guys jaw, before thrown against a wall, shattering his spine.

"7 more to go...Tell me, what do you guys have in common with my brothers?" A web shot from the darkness on a guys face, and shot him over a rafter, before his neck was broken and he hung there lifelessly. "You're all dead."

One thug was backing up into a corner trying to find a way out. He bumped into Ben, who's lenses pick that moment to illuminate glowing red. The guy pissed himself before Ben roundhouse kicked him into a wall. If the force of the kick hadn't killed him, the impact of the wall had.

"You know guys, I tend be make jokes when I fight baddies like you. Call it a trait fro m my dear old dad." Ben started causally, his head looking around for the next target to neutralize. His tone turned dark. "But see, if there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's a rapist. And what did you guys try to do?" Ben tapped a thug on the shoulder, before grabbed the guys gun from his hands, and moved it under his chin, before forcing the guy to pull the trigger. His spider sense went off, and he move to the side just in time to dodge a hail of gunfire from a different thug. He rushed the guy, punched him in the shoulder, shattering his clavicle like it was made of glass. He screamed before he was grabbed by the face, silencing him. Ben threw him towards one of his friends, who shot him in panic. 5 more to go.

"FUCK MAN YOU SHOT PHIL!" One of the guys shouted. They were now all huddled in fear, panic overriding their senses. They were jumping at shadows now, and they honestly knew they were going to die here. One guy fell to his knees, and began to pray.

"Hail Mary, full of Grace-URK!"

Ben cut that off immediately. He pulled the scumbag close to his face, and whispered to him.

"No. You don't get a last prayer or redemption." He then slammed the guy face first into the ground. Ben then jumped in between the last three, and back out, causing two of them to shoot each other in the confusion and surprise. Ben the webyanked the last guy towards him.

"See, you get to be the designated survivor. You tell people what happens to rapists in Gotham, and what happens to anyone who targets kids. Am I clear?" Before he released him, Ben took a hypodermic needle, and jabbed in the guy's neck. "That was me injecting you with a tracker, and small explosive charge. See, you get to live with the knowledge that I can retract my mercy with the touch of a button should I find reason to. So get the fuck out of my sight." With that Ben released the guy, who ran off reeking of piss and shame.

Ben shook his head. He shouldn't have lost his cool like that. He was trying to be better. To be a real hero. Killing a bunch of would be rapists like this wouldn't help his reputation as Arachnid. At best, he'd be lumped into the same category as Vigilante, Red Hood, or Huntress. Whatever. He needed to deal with the last guy. He moved to the room where the girls were, and kicked it off the hinges. He casually dodged a pistol round from the now terrified last thug, who was holding a pistol and one of the girls hostage. She was still strung out really bad, and trying to kiss the guy Clearly she was still being effected by the drug's inhibition suppression.

"So you have two options, Oswald. You can release the girl and surrender, meaning I kill you quickly. Or you can struggle and try to kill her, which you'll fail, and then I inject you with this nasty poison I stole from that Kobra lady. Either way, you're going to die."

This made the thug shake uncontrollably. He tried to move the gun to the girl's head, but Ben was way too quick. He shot a web-line at the gun, and yanked it away, before he shit a second behind the guy, and shot forward with a haymaker to the guy's jaw. The girl dropped the floor with a whine, before she passed out.

"Oh, you really should not have done that." Ben pulled another hypodermic needle from his belt, and then jammed it in the guys crotch. "See, I was curious what kind of poison this actually was. Mostly, if it was a neurotoxin or if it was necrotic in nature. Meaning your dick is going to rot off. Either way, have fun dying."

 **POTENTIAL UPSETTING CONTENT OVER. PLEASE RESUME.**

He threw the guy into a pile of boxes, and began to dial 911 on his wrist pad using an number scrambler. It rang once before the line opened.

"911. What is your emergency?" The dispatcher seemed somewhat bored.

"Hello, I'm the friendly neighborhood Arachnid. Red Hood and I just killed a bunch of rapists and drug dealers at the pier where you probably had a few noise complaints. Inside, there are a bunch of teenage girls they were planning to turn into drugged up sex slaves. So naturally, send officers with strong stomachs, because we were not gentle on these scumbags."

"Excuse me? Is this a prank?"

"Lady, if you don't send EMTs, a clinical psychologist with addictions experience, a coroner, and some cops down here, I may visit you myself for negligence of duty. You don't want that." He heard her gulp through the phone.

"Units are en-route to your location, sir. Have a nice evening." Ben scoffed at her.

"Oh yeah, lady. Sure." He cut the line, before moving to a the nearest wall that exited the building. He punched hole in the old building's wall, before taking a flare, and tossed it outside the hole, to get the help to the girls as quickly as possible. He then climbed back up to the roof, before he dialed Jason's frequency.

"You're lucky I'm finished having a chat with the Ventriloquist." There was a gunshot, and thud in the background. "What's up? Need help?"

Ben laughed. "With the thugs? No. Though suffice to say, I'll have a reputation like yours after tonight. What I do need, is a damn strong drink. On me?"

"After tonight? You better believe it." Jason's voice sounded as tired as Ben felt.

"Good, because I've already called the cops and threatened a dispatcher into sending EMT's and a coroner. So we should probably get the hell out of here."

"Sounds good."

xxxxxxxxx

Noonan's Bar was a dirty, dingy bar that was originally started by a former hitman named Noonan. However, it was also a place where you could go and be left alone to your own devices. So when Jason and Ben walked in, no one so much as glanced at them. Though, partially that probably stemmed from the fact besides the bar keep, the only other person in the bar was a blonde guy in a beige trench coat. The two of them were now in street clothes, and they took a seat next to the blond guy. Ben got the barkeeps attention with a wave of his hand in greeting.

"Three beers and three glasses of your strongest whiskey, man. It's been a shitty night." That got the blonde guy's attention.

"I would presume two of those are for me?" The guy spoke with a Liverpool accent. Odd, but Ben nodded. "Cheers, mate."

Once the drinks arrived, none of the guys were very talkative. But it was the blonde who broke the silence.

"So while I'm always game for free booze, I'm inclined to ask what prompted the generosity towards a stranger, Mr...?" The man spoke in a cool, calculating tone. Jason seemed to vaguely recognize the guy, but didn't say anything, still knocking back his beer bottle.

"Ben Reilly. And as for why, it's been a really shitty night, and misery loves company." Ben replied, in a way that didn't leave much room for detailed prying.

"I assume occupational stress then."

"Something like that." The blonde turned his attentive gaze towards Jason, who nodded his agreement with Ben's statement.

"I've been there. Seen some nasty things in my own work." He offered vaguely.

"And what would your job be, Mr...?" Ben inquired curiously.

"Constantine. John Constantine. An d I deal in...antiquities and odd jobs." John answered in a mysterious manner. This prompted a raised eyebrow from Ben, and grunt from Jason. "How about yourselves?"

"I'm a teacher at Gotham High. Specifically for AP Chemistry. I'm trying to get a job at Lex Corp in Genetics and cloning." Ben replied amicably to his new potential drinking buddy.

"I work for Wayne Enterprises as bodyguard for the CEO." Jason replied curtly. He was clearly in a bad mood, but his expression did brighten up at seeing a message on his phone from Kara.

"Interesting professions to be sure. Though, as I'm sure you both know, no one who comes to this bar is as they appear." Ben and Jason tensed a bit, but they relaxed when John made no further comment or actions in that line of questioning.

"Regardless, I came here for information related to a job I'm on searching for a rare antique, so I need to be off. Cheers for the drinks, mate. We should do this again sometime. Here. My Card." He handed Ben and Jason a card that read:

JOHN CONSTANTINE.

DEALER IN ANTIQUITIES AND MASTER OF THE DARK ARTS.

Ben looked up questioningly, but the mysterious blond man was already gone.

"So that was Constantine." Jason commented, not really sure how to take finally meeting the infamous magic using conman that was infamous for his cunning and guile.

"You know him?" Ben asked questioningly.

"Only what Bruce has told me. Before you ask why I'm friends with my boss, he's my...foster father, basically."

"He know you're a vigilante?"Jason laughed, but Ben wasn't really sure why.

"Yes, but as long as I don't go too overboard, he doesn't care too much. Before I went to work for him, we had a bit of...falling out, but we're patching things up."

"That's good to hear. It sounds like neither of us has lead exactly easy lives." Ben raised his beer bottle towards his new friend. "Here's to fighting the good fight and surviving."

Jason laughed, before clinking his bottle against Ben's.

"I'll drink to that."

To be continued...

 **So this is the long awaited second chapter of my latest fic. For those of you familiar with my first story, this is obviously a lot darker. Do not fret. I don't intend to make this some sort of broodfest. It'll be very similar to the comics of DC in that regard. There will be ups and downs, and some moments that touch on dark issues within our society. I hope you'll come along for the ride.**

 **Raizen out.**


	3. INTERLUDE 1

**I wanted to touch on a few things I mentioned in the last chapter, that sort of elucidate things I mentioned. Just a heads up, this actually takes place between chapter one and two. The next chapter will take place 2 months after chapter 2. Confusing, but I wrote the other chapter first.**

 **INTERLUDE 1: The Shipping.**

Derek was nervous. Mr. Reilly had asked him to stay after class. His grades were good. His behavior hadn't been disruptive. He had also shut down any bullying he'd gotten over his mom's death. Mr. Reilly had been ruthless in that regard. They had never seen the usually lazy teacher so angry. He had called the bullies parents, and told him how despicable he found their children, and submitted a formal request over expulsion for disgusting behavior towards peers. None of those students were still at Gotham High. It was part of why Mr. Reilly was his favorite teacher. He straight up told one of the bully's parents to fuck off when they started screaming at him over how he could push for their expulsion. He told the guy if he felt the need to defend the act of insulting someone's dead mom, then they could step outside and Ben would beat some sense into his ignorant neanderthal skull. The fight lasted 4 seconds. Derek's dad had thanked Mr. Reilly, and invited him to have dinner with them as thanks. It had been a rather somber affair, but Ernie's presence had become Derek's lifeline. Mr. Reilly had actually offered to teach him martial arts as a way to cope with the tragedy and an outlet for his frustration.

Derek agreed, given martial arts training would help him be a better hero as Sideways. Ernie agreed with his assessment. Though, Mr. Reilly's style was really weird. It was almost acrobats meet jeet kune do. It was impressive but kind of strange. No matter what he did, Derek wasn't really able to land a hit on him. It was like he had some kind of danger sense.

Derek shook his head. It wouldn't do to get lost in his head. He had to talk to Mr. Reilly. Derek found himself outside his teacher's office, but was hesitant to go in. He had a funny feeling this wasn't actually about his schoolwork or their lessons, which concerned him. He was about to knock on the door when it swung open, revealing Mr. Reilly in his teacher clothes. He was however, now wearing flip flops. He had an eyebrow raised, and he had some big glasses on his face. All in all, he looked like a lazy guy pretending to be a productive member of society.

"You should probably try mumble less when you're standing outside someones door. And to answer your questions, there's a reason why I have an interest in you- That sounded a lot less creepy in my head. Let me put it this way. I can prove to you that I want to help you, Derek. Just like I have with before. Will you please trust me? You can leave if you want after and I won't approach you again, though I don't think that will actually happen. Shall we chat?" Mr. Reilly gave a wry grin, which Derek had come to realize meant his teacher was being genuine despite his general awkwardness. He nodded and entered the office, taking a seat while Mr. Reilly closed the door behind him.

"So...this is going to be a bit like ripping off a band aid. I'm a meta human like you."

Derek blinked a few times. He hadn't expected that, though he hadn't really had any expectations to begin with. "Are your powers like mine?" He asked carefully. That got Mr. Reilly to laugh to himself.

"No, kid. They're not. But I can still teach you how to use them more effectively, and look badass while you do it." Mr. Reilly spoke in what he termed 'the mentor voice'. He had come up with from Peter's memories of Captain America, and he thought it was pretty on point.

"What if I say no? What will you do?" That made question seemed to make Mr. Reilly blink.

"Why would I do anything? I'm a superhero, dude. Well, vigilante. Whatever, semantics don't matter. My point is that I can help you from my own experiences, so you don't make the mistakes I have. Okay?"His tone was...sad. Vulnerability was a foreign look to the normally sarcastic and lazy, but ultimately nice teacher.

Derek looked at his teacher. He didn't know it, but he was looking at a man who'd seen his fair share of cruelty and had even committed some himself.

"So before I agree, what vigilante are you exactly?" Derek asked curiously, because he honestly had no clue, though he doubted Mr. Reilly was Batman. He wasn't quite broody enough.

MEANWHILE AT WAYNE MANOR

"Jason, were you calling me broody in your head again? You're just as broody as I am."

"Bruce, I have no idea what you're talking about."

BACK AT THE PLOT.

"I'm the Arachnid. Yeah, I know. Lame name. It's a work in progress." Derek was excited now. He'd been following Gotham's newest vigilante, though he was just rumors at this point. "Tell you what. Why don't you suit up and I'll show you a few ways to use your rifts to move like I do. I even made you some web shooters for if your powers stop working. Consider them a good faith gift. Sound good?" Derek just nodded, excited to finally have a tangible way to be a real hero.

If only he knew how much work he was going to have to do.

Xxxxxx

One week later...

Ben observed Derek as he rift danced through the air. Sure it was excessive, but it was a good way to establish the limits of his powers, build up endurance, and look badass all at once. The way Derek was moving was a mixture of Ben's own webslinging moves and something you'd see in the Game Portal. He would open rifts with a combination of his feet and hands and essentially shoot himself through the sky using his own momentum built up from between his rifts. It was really, _really_ cool. It was sort of self-defeating when you could teleport, but being seen by people while doing hero work was important. It played into the psychology of making people feel safe. See a hero, and you don't feel like there's as much ambient danger lurking in the shadows. While this was opposed to Batman's approach, you could argue that the presence of a 'visible' hero was good for Gotham as well.

Ben shook his head, before checking his watch. He was late. He was supposed to have his first coffee meet up with Patty, who he totally hadn't engineered an encounter with because of how cute she was. No, that would be...awkward and strange. (That's totally what he did). Though, getting hit by her car was probably not the best way to do that. Whatever the case, he had a date, and he needed to shower before then. He then opened the line into Derek's coms system that they'd installed in his suit.

"Alright, Derek, it's time to go home. I've got a date, and before I go, I want to make a suggestion." A few moments later, Derek landed from a rift just beside Ben.

"Okay, Teach. What's up?" Ben scratched the back of his head, because this was going to be awkward.

"Okay, so you're going to ask Ernie out, because I know you like her. I can tell you're crushing hard on her."

"W-WHAT?!" Was Derek's eloquent response, his tan face turning beet red.

"You are going to ask Ernie out, because I'm tired of you getting moody because you're not as close as you want to be."

"But what if she says no-" Derek tried to ask but was cut off by his teacher.

"Are you kidding me? That girl is crazy about you. You've been friends since you were kids and she hasn't made a move because she thinks you like her ditzy ass twin sister." Derek was silent at that for a moment.

"Should you really be insulting your students like that?"

"Yes. Because 70% of your classmates are idiots that make me want to bludgeon myself to death using my desk. Don't change the subject. So you're going to ask her out, on the phone call I assume you guys have nightly." Derek was still blushing, but nodded and he had a noticeable pep in his step as he moved to form another rift.

"One more thing. Don't half ass it. And use these." Ben handed Derek some movie tickets. They were for a showing of the new My Hero Academia movie that was coming out this weekend.

"Why did you have these?"

"Because you're a dense guy who needs a little push in the right direction. Also, I'm not blind. I see her drawing anime characters instead of taking notes on Fridays. I don't care, because she's got the top marks in the class. Now call her, and make it romantic. See you later."

With that Ben jumped off the roof towards his apartment and Derek walked into his rift.

They both had plans to make or enact, and not much time to do it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Patty was sitting in the cafe looking mildly annoyed. It was a little busy in the Jitter's coffee chain, but she'd found seats for both of them. He walked in wearing a button down shirt and slacks, and his newly dyed blonde hair was cut into a high and tight style. She, on contrast, was wearing her work outfit, which consisted of a pencil skirt, a blouse, and matching jacket. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and she had these big nerdy looking glasses that just seemed to accentuate her looks. From their conversation when she'd hit him with a car, and their interactions while Ben was in costume, she was a very intelligent woman, though she was slightly awkward in a rather endearing way. All in all, she was captivating, at least in Ben's eyes. He made his way over to her, before he spoke to get her attention.

"Hey, sorry. I got caught up in traffic." This prompted her expression to brighten a bit, before her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Did you just make a joke about me hitting you with my car? Also, I still don't see how you weren't hurt by that." She spoke in disbelieving tone, though you could tell she was amused as well.

"I mean, I got to meet you, so I can't really complain too much about you smacking me with a Volvo." Ben replied smoothly. He still wasn't sure about how she'd take knowing he was a vigilante, so he kept that bit to himself.

"I'm not sure whether to be flattered or insulted." She was a bit flustered but you could tell from her smile that she wasn't unhappy with the attention.

"Can't you be both?"

"I suppose so. Still, I'm glad I was able to convince you to a coffee date instead of a hospital trip." She laughed at his joke, filling the air with a light melodious chuckle. Ben himself felt a little flustered at that, red tinging his cheeks slightly.

"Oh? So this is a date? This probably doesn't surprise you but I haven't actually dated much. I'm too focused on my job, or maybe I just don't get out much." As she spoke, she whirled around a straw in her coffee, stirring up the creamer into the caffeine. He was surprised by how insecure she sounded. Ben took this moment to reach a hand out to hers, and rested it there. She was surprised, but she didn't remove hers from his.

"Well, hey, hopefully this won't be too disastrous, eh?" Ben spoke while waggling his eyebrows, prompting a giggle from Patty. "There it is."

"What?" Her smile was still there but her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.

"Your smile. It's very pretty." Ben was laying on the suave lines, and Patty was turning beet red.

"Well, thanks. Maybe you'll get to see it more often, Mr. Reilly." She replied genuinely, though slightly flirty.

"I'd like that, Ms. Spivot."

xxxxxxxxxx

Derek rifted into Ernie's room, because he felt this was a face to face conversation to have. She was not too happy about that, but when she tried to slug him in the face, he pulled her into a hug, which confused the hell out of her.

"I'm sorry." His words were genuine which confused her even more.

"What's wrong, Derek? Is everything okay?" She spoke softly, not trying to be as demanding as she usually was when she wanted to know something.

"Do you like me?" At this, she turned beet red, and tried to pull away, but he held her fast. "Please, Ernie. You're my best friend. No secrets between us right?"

"...yes..." She whispered.

"What?" He genuinely hadn't heard her, but that just seemed to fire her up even more.

"I SAID YES, DAMNIT! I LIKE YOU! MAYBE MORE!" As soon as she spoke, she clamped her hands over her mouth, and she started blushing like storm. Derek couldn't help it. He hugged her and started laughing. "Hey! What are you doing!"

"I like you too, Ernie. I don't know why you think I wouldn't. We've done practically everything together since we were kids. Why not love as well?"

"Y-you mean it?" She was overwhelmed, and really not prepared for this. She never really expected her feelings for Derek to go anywhere.

"Yes." He said simply and leaned down to kiss her. Her lips were soft, and sparks shot down his spine when they touched. They lingered together for a few minutes, before they pulled their faces away, before resting their foreheads together.

"That was everything I had hoped it would be." She spoke happily, though in her still lazy yet forceful way.

"Oh. I guess I need to ask you out officially. Wanna go see the My Hero Movie? I have two tickets to the Friday showiNG-!" He was cut off as she began to squeeze the life of him.

"OMG THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" Derek just laughed.

It was the first real laugh he'd had since his mom died, Ernie noticed, and she remembered how much she liked the sound of it.

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 3

**I'm using my MLK day productively. Ayyy. So you guys are going to hate me. I state that ahead of time, and I want you to know, that this was not an easy choice for me make in terms of story direction. But, uh. Yeah. Don't crucify me pls.**

Chapter 3: Terrible Day for Rain...

Ben was currently in his hero suit, swinging through the cityscape on Miagani Island, eyes peeled for any crimes that required his attention. So far, there was nothing. He'd recently added some signal interceptors and triangulation to his suit's onboard AI. He was slightly annoyed at how long it had taken him to get it to sync up properly, but it had been a gift from Jason to celebrate their friendship and partnership in the vigilante business. Anyways, here he was, swinging through Gotham in the pouring rain. He was annoyed because the interceptor was only picking up gossiping housewives and one dude on a phone sex line. Ugh.

Looking at his more personal life, Ben had been on a a lot more dates with Patty since their first coffee date. They'd actually been going really well, which was a departure from the luck that his DNA provider had. Though maybe that stemmed from the fact he was trying to take things slow though. He'd seen first hand how disastrous Peter's relationships were, and he derived them all back to one simple reason: because his father/genetic brother sometimes was guilty of thinking with his dick and not his brain. Though weirdly enough, Ben didn't really like MJ that much. He loved Gwen just as Peter had, but he was totally on team SpiderCat forever. Peter had really screwed up with Felicia in his opinion. The way he just wrote her off because she was unsure of her feelings was kind of shitty.

But he was getting sidetracked by his memories from his progenitor. He actually had a date with Patty that evening, and he was excited. He was finally going to tell her he loved her. By this point in time, they'd been together for about two months. She had caught herself a few times starting to say it(he had as well), but neither had actually said those three magic words to the other. But they'd shown how serious they were about the relationship in both how they'd meet up for lunch during the week on their breaks. How they had lingering touches on the other. She'd stammered rapidly when he'd asked her to officially to be his girlfriend. She'd said yes, naturally. Hell, even his little bastards- Er, darling chemistry students had commented he seemed less broody and lazy. He was shaken from his thoughts by the ringing of his phone. He checked caller ID and saw it was Patty. It was a bit unusual, but she did call him every now and then.

"Hello? Reilly Pizza Delivery. Where all your deliveries are disappointing and overpriced garbage?" He answered jovially. He was really excited to chat with his girlfriend.

"B-Ben..." Patty's voice was very weak, and she was coughing severely. "I-I've been shot. P-Please, *cough* help." Her coughs were wet, which was not a good sign. His blood ran cold.

"Patty! Where are you? I need you to be as descriptive as possible!" He replied frantically. He immediately put her on speak phone and dialed in Derek's number into his phone, and merged the two calls, hoping beyond hope that Derek would answer. It would save precious minutes and seconds in getting Patty emergency medical attention.

"Come on, answer the phone, Derek!" Derek's voicemail kicked in, and his hopes were dashed. "FUCK!" He swore at all the times he could have chosen to be unavailable.

"B-Ben?" Her voice was scared, and his outburst only frightened her more.

"Yes, baby, I'm still here, okay? Stay with me. Talk me through where you are. I'll be there in a few minutes. Though, you're gonna have some questions okay?"

"O-Okay. Just please stay with me. I don't want to die alone." Her insecurity and fear only multiplied as she kept speaking.

"You're not going to die, Patty! Just tell me where you are okay?" He punched in Jason's number, before merging the calls. He answered on the second ring.

"Yeah?" He sounded bored, which he often was when Kara was working as a reporter in Metropolis.

"JASON! I need you to suit up, and trace Patty's call, then meet me there. She's been shot, and I can't carry her to a hospital without hurting her!" He could hear Jason shoot to his feet, and frantically throwing gear on.

"Okay, fuck, hold on, give me two seconds to trace it..." For a moment, the only sounds were Patty's raspy breathing, Jason cursing under his breath, and Ben's hyperventilating at the perceived delay." "Okay! She's in an alley off of 2nd street in downtown Gotham!" Ben heard Jason's motor cycle roar to life in the background. "I'll be there in 4 minutes!"

"Baby, I'm so cold..."

"Patty, I know, just hang on, I'll be there in 2 minutes okay?" He shot off the roof he'd been sitting on and frantically began swinging towards Patty's location. The moments in between his point A and point B were nerve-wracking. Her raspy breathing was getting weaker, and she was crying. Finally, after a minute and thirty seconds of swinging, he landed at the mouth of the alley. He spotted her crumpled form on the ground, and the blood...there was so much blood. Too much. A weight settled in Ben's stomach. This...this didn't look good. Her blond hair was covered in her blood from the ground, and she was covering a hole that was much too close to her lungs for his comfort. Her glasses were a few feet away, shattered to pieces. Her make up was runny, and she was so pale...

"B-Ben? Is that you?" Patty's weak voice called out, frantically hoping her boyfriend would show up for her. It shook him out of his shock, and he sprinted over to her. He ripped his mask off as he grasped her, and cradled her in his arms, before fumbling on his belt for something help with the bleeding.

"Baby, I'm here. I know you want to know-"

"I know you're the Arachnid. It's okay. I was proud of you." Her voice was soft, but conveyed her unspoken love for him.

"You- You do?" He was shocked.

"Of course. You would bail on dates just to catch photos of the Arachnid? It wasn't hard." Her voice tried to sound amused, but she was wracked with coughs again.

"Baby, don't talk so much, please! Just hold on. Jason is on his way! Just hang on a little longer-"

"Ben, I don't think I'm going to make it." She coughed and this time her entire form shook violently, before she cried out in pain. The rain was oppressive by this point, and Ben was going crazy. Where the fuck was Jason at?!

"Patty, you can't say that-"

"I've lost so much blood..."

"What's your blood type? I can do a tranfusion-!"

"Oh, Ben...I saw us getting married, you know?" Her voice was warm as it could be given the circumstances. "I saw us raising little blonde kids, who'd grow up to be just as awkward as we are." She was smiling, which was offset by the blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth.

"Patty, please, don't talk like you're dying-" She ignored him, and pressed on unperturbed.

"I saw us getting older, and worrying about their futures, while all the while being proud of what they'd done. "I saw us getting old together, and I saw us laughing at each other as our kids gave us gray hairs much sooner than we'd hoped." Ben said nothing, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I...I love you, Ben. I'm sorry I said it so late and in such awful circumstances."

"I love you too, Patty. Please...don't leave me." He was crying now, sobs wracking his body as he cradled her bloody form. She slowly reached a hand up to his face, which he covered with one of his own.

"I don't want to...but I don't have a choice, dear." Tears flowed from her eyes. "I'm sorry. He caught me off guard. She shot me before I could do anything." Ben's blood ran cold. He was going to kill the fucker who hurt her.

"Who? Who did this to you?" His fury was causing everything to slow down.

"The Joker." She coughed violently, before she had to remove her hand from his face. "Ben?"

"Yes, Patty?" He didn't know what else to say or do. He couldn't move her. If he tried to carry her on his own, he'd hurt her more. He checked her pulse. It was slowing...Goddamnit it was so slow. "Please...Kiss me...one..last..time." Her words were starting to get weaker, and began to slur together. Gently as he could, he lowered his lips to her, the metallic taste of blood dominating their kiss. As they pulled away, she spoke one final time "Ben? Please tell me you love me...The dark doesn't seem so scary...when I hear you say it..."

"I love you, Patty Spivot. And I always will." The light was fading in her eyes. "I love you. I love you. I love you..." He repeated over and over again, until her pulse and breathing finally stopped. He chocked back a sob, before he closed her eyes. He kissed her one last time, before he gently laid her down. He stood motionless a moment, still as a statue, before the he screamed out in anger, picking up a dumpster and slamming it against the wall repeatedly.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Over and over, he slammed it before he threw it down the alley. He continued in a blind rage for about a minute. Memories of what he'd just experienced mixed with Gwen's death in his head, leaving him unsure of where he was in the moment. His rage was interrupted when a motorcycle suddenly screeched to a halt and a figure shot forward, guns drawn, before it looked in around in confusion.

"Ben?" Ben turned quickly, looking at the figure, anger and anguish evident on his face. "Ben, what the fuck happened?"

"The Joker." Jason's blood ran cold. Of course it had to be the Joker. "I'm going to kill him. If you're going to try to stop me, now would be the time." At that, Ben stopped talking, before he yanked his mask back on and stalked past Jason.

"Ben." Jason began, but paused a moment when Ben turned his head just enough that the lens on the right side of his face was visible. "Ben, you do this, Batman is going to be upset-"

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT BATMAN'S FEELINGS!" Ben roared in anger, spinning on his foot to grab Jason by the collar of his leather jacket. "As far as I'm concerned, he's as culpable for everyone the Joker has killed as the clown is. So unless you plan to rat me out to him, don't get in my way."

"Ben, you're my friend. If you honestly think I'm going to let you do this alone, you're an idiot." Jason put a hand on Ben's shoulder, before continuing, " You forget. He took me from Kara before I was brought back from the dead." Ben froze at that.

"Jason, is there a way to-" Jason cut him off immediately.

"NO! God, no. The way I came back...it was hell, Ben. Patty...wouldn't be the same after. The pit changes you." Just then, Jason's phone began to ring, which he then answered. " Hello, Batman. Yes, I'm with him. Yes, he's going to kill the Joker. Yes, you're damn right I'm going to help him do it. Don't try to stop us. If you want to help, then arrange a funeral service for the body. Because I don't think Ben is going to be able to. Thanks."

"The flying rat not approve of what I'm about to do?"

"No, he doesn't. But he's not going to stop you. I think he realizes the Joker can't be saved. He said he'll handle the fallout of whatever happens. He knows how I handle things by now."

"Whatever. Less people I have to fight tonight, I guess. Let's go."

With that , they set off to track down the Joker. Come what may, the Joker's reign of terror ended tonight.

Xxxxxxxxxx

The Clown Prince of Crime sat in his thrown. He'd become almost feral since Harley had left. But he had a new 'pet', though she was defiant and did not fawn over him, which was annoying. He stood in front of a chamber filled with red sun light, holding a lone female in it. She was muscular and lithe, with blond hair in a bob cut and her feminine curves accentuated by a white leotard. Her extreme beauty was marred by the defiant scowl on her face, as well as several purple bruises that spread over her body.

"The fuck do you want clown? I have nothing to say to you." The blonde woman spoke with hate dripping from her voice. This just made the clown laugh, as if her attempts at threats were funny.

"Oh come now dear! Is that anyway to treat your puddin'?! Especially after I took care of you after your run in with the Justice Losers?!"

"My puddin'? All you do is come down and beat me like a fucking dog. If it weren't for these fucking lamps, I'd have turned you into smear on the wall."

"Galatea, Galatea. You're a clone, and one regarded as evil at that. No one cares about you except me, don't you see that?" The Joker walked up to her, and backhanded her across the face. "And frankly, I'm the only chance you have at getting revenge on the Justice League. So you better just get any defiant thoughts out of your head right now." He looked at her a moment, before he turned around and walked out of the room. Galatea tried to keep up her facade, but she broke down shortly after he left. All she'd known since she woke up after the fight with the Justice League was the beatings the Joker put her through. She had used her hate for the clown as her reason why she wouldn't break, but she was at her wits end. She didn't know how much more she could take. Just when her thoughts were about to take a darker turn, the compound was rocked with explosions, and the screams of henchmen echoed through the chambers. She dared not hope for rescue, but she knew that hope was really the only thing she had left.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"You know how to make an entrance, Arachnid." The voice of the Joker called out from the building. Jason and Ben had used remote charges to blast holes in several places on the building. They were currently standing on the roof of ACE Chemical, looking down at one of the holes they'd made. Neither Jason nor Ben responded to the Joker's taunts. "You know, I only killed that cute little CSI girl because you were upsetting the wrong people in Gotham right? Well, that and because I thought it would be funny. You know she was two timing you? She cried out for someone named Ben. I figured I'd do you a favor and end the little trollop. So, really, you should be thanking me."

Ben twitched, before he roared and threw himself into the hole. Jason sighed, before he took aim and shot all the goons he could see from his position, killing about 7 of them in the span of 8 seconds. He quickly tried to find Ben, only to find several people sized smears on the walls from where Ben had clearly been. He wasn't holding his powers back today, that was for sure. They had agreed to stop killing goons eventually, but tonight wasn't that night. Jason heard a few shouts of fear, followed by gunshots, and bones snapped and flesh breaking. He casually walked through the hallways, shooting any stragglers stupid enough to come out before he'd left.

"Ha...hahah...HAHAHAHAHA-URK!" The sound of the Joker, followed by a grunt and crunching bones drew Jason's attention to his left. He found the Joker webbed to a wall in a crucifixion position. The Joker's left leg was dangling loosely, having been shattered at the knee.

"We both know how this goes, do gooders. You get close to killing me, then Bats swings in for the family reunion, and I go to jail, I break out of jail, kill 1 or 20 people, then repeat. Honestly, it's getting somewhat monotonous at this point-ARGHH!" Ben slammed his fist into the Joker's shoulder, turning the ball and socket joint into powder.

"Congratulations, you just lost use of your right arm permanently. Not like it'll matter much to a dead man, though..." The Joker stopped laughing here, an uncharacterristically serious looking on his face.

"You can't kill me. You guys have a code." Ben was silent a moment, before he punched the Joker in the face, shattering his jaw.

"Good. Now I don't have to listen to anymore of your fucking jokes." Ben shook his hand a bit, before picked up a metal stake that had broken off of one of the rails, and jammed it through the Joker's ankle. He tried to scream but the fact he had a broken jaw made that difficult. Ben was about do something else, when he felt Jason's hand on his shoulder.

"You've done enough." Seeing Ben was about to go off on him, he held up a hand "I know this sick fuck deserves all this and more, but I ran a scan on the building. He's got someone stored up in the basement. Go let them out. I want a turn with this prick." At this, Jason cracked his knuckles, before walking over to a bench where he picked up a solid looking crowbar. The Joker's eyes widened, before his form wracked with sobs...or was it laughter? Who could tell with that psychopath.

Ben shook his head. He had someone to save. It would take his mind off of what was happening.

Xxxxxxxxxx

He carefully walked down the stairs, which were illuminated by eery red light,. As he got to the door at the bottom of the stair that lead to the dingy basement, he was apprehensive at what he would find. He was running on autopilot at the moment, trying not to think about Patty. He knew he would breakdown later, and he didn't know how he would handle tomorrow or the day after that. All he knew was that someone was down here, and they needed his help. He heard a woman sobbing on the other side of the door. He kicked it off the hinges, and rushed inside, looking for the person who needed his help. He was surprised to find a woman who looked like Jason's girlfriend, albeit a bit more...mature. She looked up at him, with a mixture of fear and apprehension.

"So he hired another costumed freak to hurt me? He get bored of torturing me himself?" Her voice attempted to sound defiant, but it was clear she was at her wits ends. How long had he kept her down here? Ben shook his head in refutation of her assumption.

"No, miss. I'm not with the Joker. In fact, my associate and I are going to be responsible for his death, actually." Her expression went from shocked, back to apprehensive, then settled on respect. He walked over to her which made her flinch. "I'm sorry, I'm not going to hurt you. See?" He removed his mask. He was handsome, but his face was marked with tear tracks, and his eyes were red. His blonde hair was somehow still flawless after having that tightfitting mask on his head for so long. Galatea couldn't help but blush a bit at how gallant he seemed in that moment.

"O-okay..." She nodded, but didn't get up to move.

"You're hurt." It wasn't a question. "Okay, here, I have two things for you." At this, he pulled two things from his belt. One looked like a needle, which made her shift into a defensive position, while the other was...chocolate?

"What's the big idea? You gonna drug me up so you can hurt me like the clown did?" At her reversal in attitude, Ben realized his mistake. He put his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, it's a non-opiod painkiller for Kryptonians." Her posture stiffened even more. " I told Jason I'd carry some in case Kara got hurt and I was the only one nearby to help. And since you look similar to her...should I assume your her clone? I promise...I won't hurt you. So trust me?" She didn't say anything, but she slowly nodded her head.

"I don't want to explain fully here...but I'm actually a clone too." Galatea's eyebrows shot up into her bangs and her face morphed to shock, before looking apprehensive once more.

"And what's the chocolate for?" Her tone was accusatory, but it just got a humorless chuckle from Ben.

"It helps with trauma victims. Helps to ground them by giving them something good after such horrific experiences. I usually give it to kids I rescue...but you looked like you could use some good in your life right about now."

Galatea was moved by this...strange spider-like man's kindness. She slowly took the offered chocolate and the pills from his outstretched hand. Just then, Jason walked into the room with his helmet off. His expression morphed to shock when he saw Galatea's face. She beat him to the punch first.

"I know you from Kara's memories. She loves you a lot, and I did too, or at least I thought I did."

Jason, for his part, just dragged a hand down his face. "Fuck me, the crazy clone is alive?"

Her expression morphed into a sneer. "I didn't ask to be born. And I didn't ask for the fucking Joker to kidnap me and take my powers from me!" Her eyes were alight with righteous anger and tears. She crumpled back to her knees, before sobs wracked her form. "The fucked up thing? I didn't have anyone who would come looking for me or try to rescue me. I was so sure I was going to die here. And even if I had somehow escaped, it's not like I had anywhere to go." She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to comfort herself. Ben cursed his Parker genetics, and walked over to her, and pulled the woman into a hug. She stiffened at first, before she broke down, the memories of her ordeal hitting her all at once, and overwhelmed her.

Jason looked on, and mouthed 'She's bad news.' Ben just shrugged a bit.

He pulled back, but Galatea held onto his shirt.

"Please, don't go yet. I don't want to be back on my own again."

Ben was not sure what prompted him to open his mouth or even utter the words that caught him by surprise, considering . "Look, if you don't have anywhere to go...you can stay with me. I have a spare guestroom in my apartment, and it's yours if you want it." Galatea's expression was filled with emotions she wasn't used to feeling. This guy offered her a home, and he didn't even know her name...or she didn't know his, either. No one except her sole family member had been this kind to her.

"So what do you say, miss? You can leave any time you want, okay? Nothing will happen to you while I'm around. I promise." She wanted to scoff at his proclamation, but she knew it would be rude. It was...nice that offered to protect her.

"Stop calling me miss. It makes me sound old." She couldn't bite back the sarcastic remark before it left her tongue.

"Well I don't know your name so..."

"It's Galatea...but you can call me Tea...Him?" She gestured to Jason, who was playing a game on his phone. "Not so much. You better explain that clone shit sometime, Mister...?"

"Well, my super hero name is Arachnid... but friends call me Ben." She nodded, satisfied that she had gotten the name of this strange man who had saved her. She would not destroy him at all, no matter what. She was still unsure of what she wanted from life, but at least now she was free to explore it on her own. Ben helped her to her feet, before he whistled to get Jason's attention.

"I'm sick of being here. Let's go."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two days later...

Batman stood before the corpse of the Joker, unsure of what to feel. His son had finally killed the Joker, had finally obtained the closure he needed to move on. One thing was certain. He needed to have a chat with the Arachnid soon, to make sure he didn't exacerbate Jason's violent tendencies any further.

To Be continued...

 **Oh my god, I can only imagine the backlash I'm going to get from this. But I had the thought of "What if Ben went through what Peter did with Gwen?" and I couldn't get it out of my head. And then my buddy mentioned Galatea, or evil supergirl clone, and then he suggested a romance between Ben and Tea because they understand each other...and I was sold. I loved Patty's character, and I actually cried like a bitch while I wrote this. And Do not mistake me. No romance is going to happen between Ben and Galatea for a while. Ben needs time to grieve and move on. Will that stop Tea from making passes at him? Probably not. But my Ben is a bit old fashioned, so no need to worry.**

 **I will state that between chapters, there's more or less a one and a half month gap as a general rule. It'll help the story to feel less like some crisis happens in Gotham every Tuesday, and it will allow me to progress things quicker that way. What happens in between will be touched on, though, don't worry.**

 **Until next time. Raizen out.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Back again. I am really having a lot of fun with this story. Even though I almost fucking bawled writing the last chapter. I hope you enjoy, my friends.**

Chapter 4: The Road to Recovery

The overcast sky over the city of Gotham was an accurate representation of how miserable Ben felt these days. Outside of work, he rarely did anything for himself that wasn't helping Tea with her own demons. The scars of the Joker ran deep, and that was apparent every day Galatea lived with him. She would flinch when he would make a noise, or he would have an angry breakdown, no matter how much he assured her he wouldn't ever hit her. Even now that she had her super powers back, she was still skittish around Ben, like she was afraid her savior would turn into a new tormentor. Despite that, she often doted on him, though regardless of how much she helped, Ben was sort of numb. He felt so...dead inside. He didn't know why he even got out of bed these days. It had been almost two months since Patty had died in his arms. Her death haunted him, and had been his first great failure as the Arachnid. The pain was more visceral than the memories of what had happened to Gwen had ever been. His students had offered him condolences, and Derek had been so distraught. Ben had told him it wasn't his fault, and even though Derek had been busy helping out some Time Lord or whatever, Ben knew Derek blamed himself partly for Patty's death. The kid now felt he was responsible for the death's of his mom, and now Patty.

The funeral had been the most miserable day of Ben's short life. Her parent's had told him how happy he'd made Patty, which was just another icy knife through his heart. The way they told him how much she'd talked about him were just reminders of how much he'd failed her. It hurt, and Ben didn't know how to make it stop. Galatea had been his rock though. She had slowly become his best friend, just as much as Jason had. They'd been his foundational bedrock when his world had turned upside down. If they hadn't been there, who knows what might have happened. Speaking of Tea, the conversation between her and Kara had been awkward. Kara had initially worried about Galatea sharing her feelings for Jason, but that had been drowned out when she'd stated she much preferred smart men. Whatever the hell that meant. Ben shook his head. He was about to leave his apartment to go get some food for Galatea and himself when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He thought it was Galatea, but to his surprise The Monitor stood behind him, time seemingly frozen around them.

"Young Reilly, I require a moment of your time. I come with a gift to aid you against the challenges you will inevitably face. Madame Web felt it prudent to give you one more weapon in your arsenal." Ben looked at the Monitor blankly, before shrugging.

"Fine. What is it?" He asked in a rather disinterested fashion.

"A clone of a symbiote. It has not personality or inclination. It will take on your will, but will not possess the degree of sentience that you do. It will amplify your own powers, allowing you to better face off against the dark forces that work against you and young Derek. The symbiote is called Amalgam, and it was crafted specifically for you. It was cloned from the Symbiote known as Toxin, if you are worried it comes from Venom."

"A symbiote? You're serious?" Symbiotes were bad news typically, and Peter had been nearly killed by them more than once. "You better have a really good case for why I need this."

"As we said, it is empty. It will only serve you and your will passively. It holds no consciousness. It merely serves to help you be a stronger hero, which you will need to be. Trust our judgment, Young Reilly. You will need it." Ben wanted to argue, but all his counter arguments had been nipped in the bud by the Monitor.

"Fine. Do I need to know anything else?" Ben asked, annoyed with the conversation at this point.

"Madame Web mentioned this might boost your lifespan to the equivalent of a Kryptonian, but she wasn't sure. She said you could easily build a machine to monitor such occurrences." Ben felt irritation at that, but said nothing. "Well, I must go now. The multiverse won't monitor itself." And with that, the Monitor left, with Ben even more irritable than he usually was in the morning. He glanced at the writhing red and black mass that was creeping into his body through his skin. He shrugged but when he moved towards the door, he stubbed his toe. Before he could even swear aloud, Tea floated somewhat cheerfully out of her bedroom, her newly dyed black hair still in the familiar bob cut it had been in two months ago when Ben had rescued her from the Joker. She said she wanted to "embrace the evil twin" look. Which was...extra, but if it made her happy, then who was he to judge his friend. It did help distinguishing the two of them without resorting to...risque means.

When she had actually dyed her hair, Jason and Kara had come over to Ben and Tea's place. Before dying her hair, Tea was very much prone to taunting Kara over how much less developed the original was compared to her, much to Kara's ire. Jason, being the smooth son of a bitch he was, would just pick Kara up from behind in a bridal fashion tell her she was perfect just the way she was. This prompted swoons from Kara, and aches in Ben's heart that he was never able to experience those types of things for himself. Though he didn't notice it, Tea took on a very pensive look at the interaction, and her eyes flicked over to Ben. This was not missed by Kara, who made a note to talk to her clone/sister/nemesis.

Back to the present, Tea gave a little way his way as she floated over to the couch. He'd notice that she shared Kara's habit of floating around their residences when they were really happy. It was strangely endearing, in a "wow that's really odd, but also kind of sweet" sort of way. He shook his head, thinking about what he wanted for food.

"Tea, I'm going out to pick up food. What would you like?" Quick as the Flash, she was in face, hands clasped in front her excitedly, an almost giddy smile on her face.

"You mean I can pick?" Her smile fell a bit as she realized something. "Again? Are you sure you don't want to pick?" Ben didn't respond, he just gave an unenthusiastic shrug. He didn't feel like making an effort to pick, especially when it seemed to make his roommate happy. "Well...Um...Can we do burgers? I really like this planet's junkfood." He sighed, but the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

"Big Belly Burger it is, then. I'll be back in like 30 minutes, okay Galatea?" She bobbed her head excitedly, but her smile dropped a big every time he used her full name over Tea. He tended to do it more when he was more depressed than usual. She decided then that she would do something for the man who'd saved her from a life of hellish abuse. But first, she had to arrange martial arts lessons with Jason. She'd promised Kara that she would take lessons with their resident bad boy, in case her powers got neutralized again. So with an annoyed sigh, she dialed Jason's cell phone number.

Xxxxxx

Ben left his apartment in a lethargic shuffle. Big Belly Burger wasn't too far from their place. He'd finished his doctoral research 3 months in advance, and was expected to be notified of his degree soon. Dr. Reilly was weird to think about, but he'd already been working from home on some projects for LexCorp and S.T.A.R. Labs, so it was something of a foregone conclusion at this point. He'd met both Lex Luthor and Harrison Wells at a symposium he'd had to present at as part of his doctoral degree plan, and his work had caught their attention. Since Lex was no longer involved in the supervillain scene, he'd taken to expanding his business in biochemistry research, and he had wanted Ben to head up the program. Harrison Wells had come with a similar offer, and while both men were honestly inspiration, he'd rejected full time employment, as he enjoyed teaching too much to quit. He had agreed to form a sort of partnership between the three for independent projects that they all agreed on were beneficial to society. Ben had drawn up some schematics of an arc reactor from memory, and they'd agreed that would be their first venture. That had been a month into his life in this universe, and they'd all remained relatively close since. When Ben refused to be paid an exorbitant amount of money for his contribution, Lex had bought Ben's apartment building and told him he no longer had to worry about rent. Harrison had simply listed him for a monthly wage at STAR Labs, and ensure a check for about twelve grand showed up at his door on the first of every month. Ben had tried to object, but when he saw how much Galatea ate for the first time, he decided he'd need the extra cash.

Shaking his head, he was about to cross the street when his spider sense started tingling, and he noticed a dark figure on the roof top.

"Huh. Batman. Was wondering when I'd get a visit from him. Well, better see what he wants." Ben sighed, and walked into an alley way, before casually walking up the side of the building. Once he deposited himself on the roof, he cast a glance at Batman, who stood glaring at him, but said nothing. Tension built up, but he waited for Bats to tell him what he wanted.

"Well? If you don't need anything, I'm gonna go. Hungry Kryptonian to feed and such." As he pretended to dust off his pants before he walked to the ledge, he was cut off when Batman began to speak.

"I want to know what your angle is. Metas don't usually stay in Gotham long. And they definitely don't usually become vigilantes with a lethal streak in my territory." Batman was definitely intimidating, but when the guy literally couldn't get the drop on you, it somehow made talking to the guy less scary.

"Would you believe me if I said I was sent here by a purple man to mentor another meta?"

"Yes." was the succinct reply.

"No need to get bent out of- Wait, did you say yes?" Ben was baffled and his train of thought derailed.

"The Monitor and I have an agreement. We came to it following the incident with Barbatos. He gave me a brief overview on why you're here, but why he sent you here and why you do what you do are two entirely separate things. So I ask you again. Why are you hanging around with my son?"

"Huh. So you're Jason's Dad?" Ben blinked a bit at that bit of information.

"Don't answer my question with one of your own."

"Fine, fine. I'm trying to redeem myself for something I did in a past life. I did some terrible things, and I thought I would take the chance offered to me to make something of myself beyond the sick monster I used to be. I want- no I need to be better. I know I went far when I killed the Joker. But Jason and I are slowly taking lethal force out of our operational skill-set." Batman remained impassive, before grunted at him.

"You're not a long term threat to the city or the planet. Two things. You don't kill anymore people, and you keep the clone under control. She's done a lot of awful things, and I don't need her causing anymore trouble now. Got it?"

"Yes, Bruce." That made Batman freeze mid-step. "How-?"

"Oh you actually confirmed it, but I mostly went to Jason's phone contact labeled "Dad" and saw it was the number of Bruce Wayne. Before you freak out, I don't really care. And I have even less interest in exposing you. You're territorial, but this is the first I've heard from you since I set up shop here. That showed trust. So thank you." Ben extended a hand out towards the Dark Knight. Bruce eyed him a moment, before extending his own hand and grasping Ben's in a firm handshake. Once they let go, Bruce took a step back a moment, before looking out over the city under his watch.

"Between us, how ready is Derek for hero work?" The question caught Ben off guard, but it made sense that he'd want to know.

"He's...green. Really green. But his heart is in the right place, and I've trained him about as much as I can. Now I have to get him practical experience." Bruce nodded to this, but he frowned again.

"His girlfriend. Has she exhibited any powers?" Ben raised an eyebrow, curious about the question.

"No, why?"

"She was in Central City during the Speed Force Storm incident. I was worried that she might have been effected."

"As far as I know, she hasn't shown any powers, but you gotta understand. Even if Ernie was, the last thing she wants to do is be a hero. I can barely get the girl to do homework for my class, so it'd be unlikely she'd do something as bothersome as hero work." Batman looked at him like he was crazy, but Ben just shrugged. Ben waved and walked over to the ledge, before pretending to fall off. He heard Batman rush to the ledge to see him standing on the side of the building with a shiteating grin on his face. "Gotcha. Later Bats."

He then proceeded to casually stroll down the side of the building towards Big Belly Burger. He had to feed himself and a Kryptonian after all.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside a movie theater, Derek James was blushing beet red. Ernie was holding his hand, oblivious to her boyfriends nervousness. They'd been dating for almost 4 months by this point, but Derek still got nervous whenever they were truly alone. He'd always noted how pretty Ernie was, but now that they were dating, it made him nervous. He didn't want to disappoint her, given how broody he could be. She'd been his rock after his mom had died, and she never forced him to do things he didn't want to do. They were now actually about to go see the new Gundam Movie, since Ernie loved mecha anime. Derek himself was ambivalent on the genre, but it made Ernie happy so that was good enough for him.

"Hey Derek?" Ernie's lazy voice caught him out of his thoughts. He glanced at her, with only a slight blush dusting his cheeks. She looked really really cute in her outfit. She was wearing a blue hoody with a fur lined hood, a tank top, and some tight shorts. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was dressing like her favorite character from the game Persona 5.

"Yes, baby?" He managed to reply without stuttering. Great success!

"You're happy with me right? I know you 're not into anime as much as I am..." Insecurity was present in her voice, which made Derek's heart ache a bit, so he decided to be a bit impulsive. He pulled her into a hug, which made her go 'MEEP'.

"Yes, Ernie. I am. I'm dating my best friend, who for some reason tolerates me brooding despite her hating that type of character in her shows." Ernie's brow twitched a bit at this.

"Look, you aren't nearly as broody as Sasuke, and not annoying like Bakugo. You're my Derek." Her annoyed tone made Derek laugh. "Hey, Derek?"

"Yes, Ernie?"

"Do you think Mr. Reilly is gonna be okay?" That sobered Derek up quickly. The death of their teacher's girlfriend had been so sudden. And given who had killed her, it was a safe bet that it hadn't been a painless death either. Ben had been more despondent lately, and he rarely smiled like he used to. He'd taken to wearing stubble on his face to class, which made him look a lot older and tired.

"I don't know, baby. I think he needs time to grieve. Maybe he'll get better then." She slowly nodded her head, before she wrapped herself around his left arm, and pulled him into the theater.

Her question was random, but Derek knew he'd be the same as Ben if something happened to Ernie.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Galatea was annoyed. Ben hadn't returned with the delicious fries yet. And she was also being subjected to a lecture by her 'sister'.

"Look, all I'm saying is that I think you and Ben would benefit from seeing a therapist. The one I have in mind owes Jason a favor, and she's stated she would be more than happy to help you two work through your demons." At noticing Galatea's annoyed expression, Kara held her hands up "Seeking help is not a sign of weakness, Tea. I know you've got some sort of crush on Ben. But if you want that to go anywhere, you're going to have to work through your own stuff, and help him work through his. He literally held her in his arms as she died. He's barely reactive to anything these days. He literally nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize along with Lex Luthor and Harrison Wells for their Arc Reactor technology. They literally solved the worlds energy crisis. And Ben didn't care at all. Please, Tea. He needs help. I know you want him to be happy again. You want to see what he's like when he's not...miserable, all the time."

Galatea hated these weakness. It made her feel vulnerable, but her sister was right. "I do. He's so...kind in taking care of me, and not once did he ask me for anything in return. Many men would leer at me for my body, but he always averts his gaze. He asks nothing, and despite being barely able to take care of himself, he makes sure I always have what I need."

"So take him to see, Dr. Quinzel." At hearing the name, Galatea's memories of Harley Quinn rose up.

"She got her license back?"

"She helps anyone who needs it, regardless of morality. Though, she does have a habit of making rapists who show up...disappear." Kara admitted sheepishly. Galatea hesitated to respond, at first.

"...Are you sure she's the best one to help Ben and I?" Tea's voice had a degree of vulnerability to it there hadn't been before.

"She's the only one who could, I'd wager."

"Fine. I'll convince him. I might need Jason to talk to him though."

"Oh trust me. Tall, pale and broody-" There was an indignant yell heard on Kara's end "-will drug him if necessary."

"Alright. Let me know when it's happening."

"I'll set it up ASAP."

After hanging up, Galatea brushed one of her dark bangs behind her head, idly wondering what Ben would be like after therapy...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The cashier looked at Ben like he was crazy. The disbelief was shared by the other patrons in the Big Belly Burger.

"I'm sorry, did you just say you needed 20 Big Belly Combos?" The cashier had to clarify what surely had to be a mistaken slip of the tongue.

"Listen Johnny Judgment. You going to take my money, or not?" Ben was annoyed. He just wanted to get the food and go back home to watch dumb shit on Netflix. The cashier was interfering with that plan.

"You...do know that's probably enough trans fat to kill an elephant, right?" One other customer chimed in snootily. Ben just cast her a sidelong glance.

"Then why the fuck are you eating here, then?" A cry of indignation that Ben just tuned out before he continued talking to the cashier. "You realize we go through this song and dance literally everytime I come here right? It's getting old. So either take my damn order, or refuse to serve me, so I can go somewhere else. Either way, stop wasting my damn time." At his irritation, the manager came over and apologized profusely, before ensuring that his order was fine. About 20 minutes later, Ben walked out with several carry out bags worth of fast food, and significantly less irritated than he had been previously. The walk back to his apartment had been quick, and when he knocked to let Galatea know he was home, she excitedly threw open the door.

"FOOD!" He chuckled a bit, before he handed her a burger which he was sure would be gone by the time he set the rest of the food down. As brilliant and perfect as Galatea seemed to be, she was childlike in her love of junkfood and laziness. He'd actually managed to convince Lex to give her a job at LexCorp's Gotham branch as an executive staff position, if only because Ben felt she'd enjoy putting her mind to use. She hadn't given him a definitive answer yet, which Ben respected. It's not like they needed the money, so he didn't press the issue.

After setting out the veritable feast of junkfood, they began to eat in silence. Galatea ate in silence, but she observed her roommate/crush. Ben, for his part, was watching Netflix on his phone, probably Disenchanted, since he had a fondness for Matt Groening's work. He chuckled every now and then, but you could tell he wasn't truly happy. She continued nibbling on her fourth box of fries, trying to work up the nerve to suggest the therapy.

"Ben?" She began with an audible gulp, nervous now for some reason.

"Yea, Tea?" He pulled one earbud out, and paused his show. "What's wrong?"

She began to fidget. "Ben, I know we've tried to move past what happened with the Joker on our own...but I honestly think we need to see someone. I still have nightmares, and I know you do too." Ben's face was ashen, but he didn't deny it. She continued, "I spoke to Kara about it. She and Jason care about you, and they arranged for someone to talk to us, separately of course. But the psychiatrist is a pro, and she specializes with people like us. The powered type." Ben just sighed, but nodded. He knew when he was out of his element, and he'd honestly tried to work past it on his own, but he knew he needed help. He hated waking up to feel miserable, and he hated that he hadn't looked into therapy sooner, if only for his roommate's sake.

"Okay, Tea. We can. Just tell me a time and place, and I will make sure we get there." He stood up from the table, and moved over to his desk. "I need to work on grading some tests. If you need anything, just let me know." At seeing her slowly nod her head, he went to work.

Ben, though apprehensive, actually felt this new development might at least help the nightmares go away.

Xxxxxxxx

To be continued...

 **So I'm on a roll right now, and I've got momentum. I've currently been streaming a lot of twitch, so I do that in my free time when I'm not writing. I want to get things rolling, and I'm working towards that as quickly as I can while ensuring quality work. Hope you guys enjoy it. :)**

 **Raizen out.**


	6. Interlude 2

**This will be the last interlude chapter for a while. This was so I could progress with the plot, and fluff. Which, to be honest, the fluff is 90% of why I write. I plan to play up the humor, fluff, and action after this chapter. But the interpersonal growth I've depicted and facilitated needed to be done. And I feel happy with all I've done so far. I don't have a huge event planned out yet, and probably won't for a while, but I've been enjoying the snapshot formula I've done so far.**

Interlude 2: The Therapy sessions.

Ben and Galatea were in central Gotham, outside a shop called Isley Nursery, which for some godforsaken reason, was where they'd been told to show up to for their therapy appointment.

"Oh great." Galatea said with a groan. "Not only are we talking to Harley Queen about our problems, we also have to deal with her psychotic eco warrior girlfriend." Whatever Ben was about to say, was cut off by a rather high pitched girly voice.

"Say whatcha will about Red, she's as smart as she is sexy." The voice of Harley Quinn, their assigned therapist, came from a window on the second floor. They glanced up to see their therapist is rather...risque lingerie. Harleen Quinzel was a blond woman with shoulder length hair, a cute face with a manic grin, and a modest figure. Galatea covered Ben's eyes, and glared at Harley, who raised an eyebrow and made a mental note to tease the Pulp Fiction looking chick about it later. "So you the ones Jason mentioned?" This prompted Ben to scoff.

"We are, but are you the one he thinks can help us?" That made all the humor and playfulness drop out of Harley's voice.

"I know I may not look it, but I have an PhD in clinical psychology, which I obtained by the time I was your age, and was regarded as the best in the field...at least until the bastard got his claws into my head. I am trained in multiple styles of therapy, and I will do my best to help you through your issues. Kay?" That knocked the criticism right out of Ben's mouth. He made the wise move of shutting his mouth, and nodding. Galatea uncovered his eyes since Harley had left the window sill to come let them into her office/home. This made Ben turn to look at her.

"Why'd you cover my eyes? It's not like I was staring." This made Galatea blush a bit, and she refused to answer. Ben just shook his head, and muttered something about her 'not being his girlfriend' under his breath. He had unfortunately forgotten that Galatea had super hearing, and though he didn't see it, her expression was one of hurt. Again, she didn't say anything, but you could tell she was down when they walked into the Harley's building. She brought them to an office area. In it, were walls lined with bookshelves with literary works on everything from psychocology to neurochemistry and botany. There was also a desk, with a padded chair behind it, and a couch that looked really comfortable. Harley gestured to the couch while she took a seat behind her desk.

"So which one of you wants to go first?"

Galatea was shaking, but Ben put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"It's okay, Tea. Harley hate the Joker even more than you do. She's not going to hurt you. And even if she tried, I'd be right here to help, okay?" Ben told her gently, which got him a nod from the newly black haired girl. She brushed a bang behind her ear, and gave him a weak smile.

"I'm okay, Ben. I just got nervous. I'd like to go first." She spoke softly, lacking her usual boisterous confidence she usually had. Ben nodded, and went to go outside. Harley noticed this, and quickly spoke out to get his attention.

"Follow the sticky notes to our living room. Nothing will eat you there." Before he could even ask what the hell that meant, the door slammed closed. Shaking his head, Ben did as he was told, and eventually found himself in a stereotypical living. Shrugging, he took a seat on their couch, and pulled out his phone, and started watching some anime on Netflix.

Part 1: Galatea.

Harley looked at Galatea who fidgeted. "So since you guys agreed to do this once a week, I say we do the light stuff first. Building trust and what not. So tell me, how long have you loved blonde and broody over there?" At Harley's mirthful words, Galatea blushed, and began to fidget even more.

"It, uh, started when he saved me from the Joker." Instantly, the mirth left Harley's expression, clearly remembering her own issues with the recently deceased Clown Prince of Crime.

Shaking her head, Harley pressed on, "We can either talk about that now, or you can tell me some of the other reasons why you love the Mr. Reilly."

"I'd like to talk about the beginning, just not in too much detail." At this, Harley nodded encouragingly, offering a brief but gentle smile to coax Tea to share. "When he kicked open the door to the cell I was in, he looked so...gallant. I know it's cliche... but he really looked like a knight in shining armor. I thought I was going to die down there, so when I say he saved me in more than one way, I mean it." Harley mulled over Tea's words as she stopped for a moment, choosing that moment to offer a comment.

"Do you think you might be projecting your perceptions and feelings onto Ben?" Galatea looked surprised, but shook her head slowly.

"No, well maybe in the beginning but not now! He has done a lot for me. He has given me a roof over my head and asked nothing in return, and doesn't even try to ogle me when I walk around the apartment in shorts and a tank top." At this, Harley's smile turned slightly teasing.

"But you'd definitely like him to." Again, Tea blushed, but slowly nodded.

"I do, but I refuse to try anything until he's come to terms with Patty's death. I owe him and care about him too much to try to take advantage of him like that. He's so kind sometimes without even realizing it." Tea's eyes watered up a bit. "He even puts a blanket on me when I fall asleep on the couch watching Netflix. And he always sets aside enough of his paycheck to make sure I'm taken care of with whatever I want. And he doesn't ask a thing of me in return."

"So you feel bad about that."

"No! I mean, sort of? I told him I'd take a job at LexCorp to help out with the bills, and he told me the money wasn't important. He only got me the job because he was worried I was bored being cooped up in the apartment. You know he even offered to go drop a grand on an entertainment system for me?"

Harley frowned a bit. The girl had it bad, in terms of loving someone who wasn't available at the moment. "Well, typically what I would say is you have to be careful not to take advantage of his emotional state while he's fragile like this, but you seem to get it. When did you notice your feelings were more than friendship for Ben?"

"I think...it was when I saw him teach for the first time. He was chaperoning his AP chemistry students on a field trip to LexCorp. He'd brought me along just so I could get out a bit and stretch my legs. But when we got there, he went into teacher mode. He was patient. He was kind. He didn't get annoyed at the slower students, despite what he may say. You could tell that he was loving every second of helping these kids better understand one of his passions." At this, Tea's eyes teared up a bit, both from longing and happiness. "And that's when I realized I loved him. I know I'm a failure, and I shouldn't exist, and that I've hurt so many people that I don't deserve a shot at happiness...But he does...and I'd like to try to give that to him, when he's ready."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ben was annoyed. He had gotten board of Netflix, so he'd started to watch My Hero Academia on Hulu. He'd just watched Bakugo bully the main character, and it brought up bad memories that Peter had of Flash Thompson. It was vivid, and he had to watch something else. He was about to watch some Futurama when he saw Tea walk into the room, and wave to get his attention. He briefly smiled, which she tentatively returned.

"She ready for me?" Tea didn't respond verbally, but she nodded. "Well, guess I'll head in." He was about to walk off, but he stopped a moment, and walked back over to her, she looked a bit skittish, and she was even more confused when he handed her his phone and his headphones.

"Why are you giving me this?"

"Because I noticed yours died on the trip over here. So I'm giving you mine so you won't get bored." Having said his piece, he turned around and walked back towards the office.

If he'd stayed a bit longer, he'd have noticed Tea tear up a bit and whisper to herself "Would he still be kind to me if he knew how many innocent people I'd hurt?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Part 2: Benjamin

There was a tense silence between Ben and Harley. After about 2 minutes of silence, Harley realized she would need to take the initiative.

"So, Ben, tell me, Jason didn't explain why you were coming to see me. Would you please tell me why?" She asked kindly, but clearly, hoping to elucidate what had happened to the guy who wasn't all the younger than she was.

"We could go into how I have identity issues because I'm a clone, or how I killed the other clones to remain alive, or we could talk about how your ex left my girlfriend to bleed out cold and alone in an alley way. Your pick." He stated sarcastically, but he hadn't exactly lied. All of those things were issues he struggled with. He had never really had anyone to discuss them with, because he was so used to being on his own, with no allies in a strange world. Harley frowned a bit at that. That was a lot to deal with, and any one of them would be a problem to deal with on its own, let alone with all three being comorbid.

"Well, the purpose of our meeting is a sharing and mutually working towards solutions to problems you might be facing. It's nothing so pedantic as a snake oil cure for your problems." That got Ben's attention. He would never claim to be an expert on psychology, hell all knew about it was the bullshit stereotypes he'd seen on TV. "So I don't want you to talk about anything you're not ready to talk about." She finished with a small smile.

Ben looked down at his hands. Memories of all he'd experienced hit him all at once. He closed his eyes, trying to process it all. He looked to Harley. "I want to move on from it all, but I don't know how. The way I'm going through the motions kills me inside, and I want the pain to stop."

'That admission was a good start,' Harley thought clinically. "Jason did mention your background is a little crazy. Why don't we start there?"

Ben took a deep breath but nodded. "It all started with a young adult named Peter Parker, and his college professor named Miles Warren..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

To Be continued...

 **So not a full sized chapter but definitely a needed one to bridge the gap between this chapter and the next. I intend to keep using interludes when there are events that need to be clarified between chapters that can't just be explained quickly as uneventful. In the next chapter, the seeds of love will be planted, or will they? I guess that's for me to know and you to find out.**

 **Raizen out.**


	7. Chapter 5

**Back again. Been on a writing kick, and writing this story makes me happy. Don't judge me. I have needs. Mostly, I'll be petting my cat or making a sandwhich which suddenly in an almost epiphany type moment I'll think of something amazing and I'm just like okay, I need to work on this story. Which is basically how the last 5 days played out. Ay.**

 **And which out further BS, I give you chapter 5 of The Crazy Life of Ben Reilly.**

Chapter 5: You're My Hero

Ben was currently walking down the hallway of Gotham High, killing time in between his classes. He greeted various students as he walked down the hallways, without having a real destination in mind. He didn't really like the majority of his coworkers, as he felt too many turned a blind eye to bullying in the school. As he continued to walk, he let himself drift into his thoughts.

It had been 2 months since they'd started therapy. Both had made progress, but neither were completely over their individual demons. But progress is still progress. Tea no longer flinched from loud noises or when Ben got irritated with something. Tea and Ben had talk about their nature as clones, which had helped them get closer, because they understood each other in ways no one else did. It was why they styled their hair differently than the originals. It offered them a small bit of individuality in their artificial existence. Tea's black hair made her stick out from Kara just like Ben's blonde hair distinguished him from Peter.

Jason and Ben had been introduced to Constantine's more...sketchy side over the course of their friendship. Mostly? He asked them to beat the hell out of the criminals while he... appropriated any magical items he felt would serve him better. Or look good on his coffee table. Either way, he didn't attempt to scam them...though he did skip out on the bar tab. They chalked it up as part of his charm, and didn't worry too much about it. He made it clear that it was just how he dealt with things, since he usually had be the most underhanded in the room, and it was habit. John did mention his partner Zed tended to...encourage him not to be an asshole. When both Ben and Jason raised an eyebrow in questioning, John lit up a cigarette and refused to elaborate, though he did have a slight grin on his face.

Ben's work with Lex and Harrison was also progressing quite nicely. Ben had performed a variety research on biochemistry, genetics, and cloning for both men. Nothing too strenuous so far, as Ben was mostly a consultant to get the departments up to Lex and Harry's impeccably high standards. They hadn't really had any big projects since the Arc Reactor, though to be fair, he had accomplished a lot with that alone. They would also occasionally invite him to joint galas, especially now that he was a rising star in the biochemistry field as the 'illustrious Dr. Benjamin Reilly'. He honestly hated them, and both of his billionaire friends enjoyed his discomfort at brushing elbows with the "elite" of the world. Galatea always seemed to enjoy them as his 'date'. When he asked why she had so much fun, she replied she didn't want anyone trying to take advantage of him because "he was really awkward" and she made him look better. Whatever that meant. He'd stopped questioning some of her odd behavior these days, and chalked it up as part of her charm.

Galatea was hard to get a read on. She was still haughty and arrogant to most other people, but she wasn't like that around him. She was...softer, less caustic in how she conducted herself. Whether it was how he would catch her scarfing down icecream at two in the morning randomly(which would make her really embarrassed), or how she'd float around the apartment while bobbing to her music on her phone, occasionally singing really REALLY badly. But when other people came into the picture she was harsher, and infinitely more hostile. She had only briefly mentioned what her past was like, only that Ben was literally the only other person to show her kindness next to her father, who was dead now. When he asked if he wanted to talk about that, she had clammed up immediately, becoming despondent. That caught his attention, and when he'd tried to reach out to her, she'd recoiled like he'd struck her. That...had hurt Ben's feelings a lot. He felt like she was keeping things from him, and while he didn't mind, he had shared a lot more with her than she had with him, which bothered him, considering how much he had come to rely on her.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He reached into his pocket to pull it out, when he lightly bumped into someone. He turned to apologize and saw it was Ernie's twin sister, Emeline. Despite being identical twins in terms of appearance, Emeline was nothing like Ernie. Honestly, Emeline was the opposite of Ernie in pretty much every conceivable way. She was a prissy socialite, whereas Ernie was more introverted and geeky. He didn't much like Emeline that much, though it was mostly because she rarely payed attention in his class.

"Oh, Mr. Reilly, I'm so sorry! I was, like, not paying attention to where I was going at all."She replied in her usual haughty tone. She was clearly the queen bee of the school, and she made sure people knew it...though, Ben really didn't care that much since that was kind of a useless title. High school popularity was honestly one of the most overrated life achievements anyway. When he realized he needed to respond to her, he waved off her apology.

"Don't sweat it, Miss Edgars. I wasn't paying attention either. I was just killing time until class started anyway. Don't let me hold you up from...whatever it was you were doing." Ben replied as hastily as possible, trying to get away from the girl he perceived as rather vapid and uninteresting as quickly as he could. She harbored rather grand delusions that she could pass his class by merely batting her eyelashes at him. If it didn't work with Tea, who was infinitely more attractive while simultaneously not being jailbait, Emeline had not a snowballs chance in hell. Wait, did he just call Tea attractive in his head? Weird. That came out of nowhere.

"Um, Mr. Reilly?" Emeline's voice yanked him out of his thoughts once more, prompting him to bite back his annoyance and refocus on the teenage girl in front of him.

"Yes, Miss Edgars?" His tone belied none of his annoyance, something he was proud of.

"Um, do you, like, know where my sister and her boyfriend are? I know you are something of a mentor for them and stuff." This prompted a raised eyebrow from Ben.

"I'm afraid I don't Miss Edgars. Why?" Emeline began to blush a bit, and began to twirl a bit of her hair.

"Oh, I heard Derek was taking pictures of that hero Sideways, and I'm a huge fan of that guy! I wanted to ask the school paper to run an article on him and I needed pictures for that." Ben was baffled a bit at that. He didn't really expect Emeline to crush on anyone, let alone blush like Ernie did whenever Derek would something cool. And on Derek's hero alter ego too? Ben wondered how Ernie would take that bit of information.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't help you there. If you see your sister before I do, though, please tell her I need her to submit her paperwork for the internship at STAR Labs by Friday. Have a nice day, Ms. Edgars." And with that, Ben walked away until he reached an alcove, at which point he unlocked his phone to see what had prompted it to go off.

Looking at the screen, he had three text messages. The first was from Harrison, which was a joke about Schrodinger's cat. It was a running gag Harrison and Ben had, where they'd hit each other with the nerdiest joke they had off the top of their head whenever they met up. The second was from Jason, asking if they were on for beers with the girls later tonight. Ben decided to be extra and take a selfie holding a thumbs up, and sent it. Jason responded two seconds later with the following text:

"You look fucking homeless with that scruff." Good old Jason. Always the positive reinforcer, that one. Ben shook his head. He then opened his phone to a picture of Galatea mimicking Ben's tendency to hang out on their ceiling. She also threw up a peace sign over her left eye and was winking. She even had the his pose down, generally speaking. She was wearing a black tank top that...accentuated her killer figure, though Ben didn't focus on that much. He could also see she had on some white sweatpants, and her black hair was now getting down to her shoulders, and her bangs were now parted to the right. She also wore her typical confident smirk, that said 'I'm out of your league.'

It was captioned "Spider Woman, reporting for duty ;)"

Ben: Why are you hanging out on our ceiling, Tea...

Tea: Because I want to see why the hell you do it sometimes. Lol

Ben: Mostly to weird you out. That, and it's a different perspective.

Tea:...Sure it's not just so you can see down my shirt? ;p

Ben: If you really think I'm a perv like that, you don't know me at all.

Tea: I'm just kidding. Don't get so angry, Benny.

Ben: Please don't call me that.

Tea:...Did I make you mad? I was just kidding...

Ben: No, I'm not mad. You still want to go have beer's at Noonan's with Jason and Kara tonight?

Tea: Yes! I don't get to go out much.

Ben: Haha maybe you'll actually meet someone tonight.

Tea: Not interested. Nobody meets my standards anyway. :p

Ben: Sorry, you know I just want you to be happy, Tea.

Tea: I know, Benny. You're sweet. I'll see you tonight okay? Also...don't be mad when you get home.

Ben:...Why would I be mad?

Tea:...haha :P It'd be easier to just show you.

There was a pause in the texting followed by a picture. Tea was holding a fluffy ass black cat that looked about 3 years old. Ben couldn't help but notice how how...beautiful his friend looked with the million watt smile she was currently wearing. The cat was curled up in her lap, and was looking really content. It was...cute. Both Tea and the cat.

Ben:...What did you name him? It IS a him right?

Tea: Um, I was expecting an angry phone call. Yes, his name is Salazar.

Ben: I should never had let you get into Harry Potter.

Tea: Hush, silly Ravenclaw. Your Slytherin Queen commands it! :p

Ben: Ha. Ha. Yes, I am clearly just a peasant beneath you and Salazar's feet. -.-

Tea: But isn't he just the cutest?

Ben: I'll be honest, I wouldn't have expected you to like cats so much. You're wearing the bracelet so you won't hurt him right?

Kara had gotten Tea a bracelet that emitted red sun radiation to suppress her powers. When asked why she needed one to begin with, Kara just blushed and Jason got a far away look on his grinning face, and only said: "Best broken hand ever". Kara swatted him on the head, but he kept grinning.

Tea: Yea! I would never hurt Salazar.

Ben: But why a cat?

Tea: Because Kara hates cats, so naturally I love them. Because I'm superior in every way.

Ben shook his head. He checked the clock on his phone, and noticed he needed to get back to his classroom for his afternoon classes.

Ben: I gotta go, Tea. Spam pictures of Salazar as he does cute things.

She didn't reply with a text, only with a picture of her doing a mock salute.

Ben shook his head, and headed back to his classroom. Hopefully, Salazar liked belly rubs, because that cat had a very fluffy belly.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later...

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly, and Ben found himself back at his apartment door faster than he expected. He was about the turn the knob to the apartment door when it was flung open, followed by a very fluffy, and very confused black cat being placed in front of his face. Ben was confused, only to see Tea's excited face poke out from the side of the cat, a bright smile on her face/

"Say hi to your dad, Salazar!" The cat looked back and forth between them, before meowing at Ben. "Good boy!" She rewarded the cat with chin scratches and head pats. She was wearing a green and black hoodie, and some sweatpants. She looked good, though Ben would be damned if he admitted it aloud.

"So this is our new buddy." Ben proceeded to have a staring contest with the cat. This went on until Tea flicked him on the nose. Ben rubbed his nose a bit before deadpanning at her.

"Stop staring out our new child, and tell him you love him, damn it." She looked annoyed and was tapping her foot impatiently, eyes starting to glow. Powers or not, those eye lasers hurt like a bitch.

"Hi, Salazar. Your father loves you very much." Ben stated awkwardly, before patting the cat on the head, getting loud purrs from the cat. "So, uh, what's his story?"

His question prompted a cross look to appear on Tea's face. She looked like she wanted to break someone's face in.

"He's a rescue, and the shelter was giving him away. His previous owners were...abusive, but he's better now. Isn't that right, precious?" She then moved the cat in front of her face and proceeded to ask it in baby talk, prompting Salazar to lick her nose. This prompted high pitched squeals of joy, and a round of hugs for the cat, who seemed quite at home on Tea's rather ample chest. Ben was definitely oddly jealous of the cat in a strange way, though he didn't know why. He coughed to get the attention of his super powered friend once more.

"So, a few things to go over. First, did you ever get your fake glasses from Kara?" At this, Tea produced a glasses case from her hoodie pocket. She then placed them on her face.

"How do I look? Do I pull the cute nerd look off well?" She placed a finger on her lip, and bit it seductively, causing Ben to gulp. This made Tea burst into laughter, and pat him on the shoulder in a conciliatory manner. "You're too easy to mess with, Benny."

Ben just shook his head, and ignored her. "Whatever, did you ever think of a hero name for yourself?"

Tea perked up yet again, and puffed out her chest proudly. "I sure did. Say hello to Ultra Woman!" At this, tea pulled out her phone, and began flipping through her pictures, and 'accidentally' flipped past some risque ones while trying to find the ones of her outfit. She definitely enjoyed Ben's awkward discomfort. Finally, she found the one she was looking for: a picture of her in a black leotard, with a red symbol of House El on it. She had a half mask over the bottom half of her face, which just made her look more mysterious. It also had some web like patterns on the back, which she didn't offer any explanation for.

"Not bad, Tea. You look pretty badass."

"I always look badass, dork. You're the one who looks like a bum half the time."

"Whatever. You should go ahead and get ready. I wanted to get something to eat before we go to Noonan's. That former hitman knows a good brew but he's no chef, that's for sure. Unless you don't want to-OOF!" Before he could finish Tea had rushed over and muttered 'thank you' about a thousand times into his chest. Tea had been overly...affectionate in her thanks lately. Ben wasn't really sure what to make of the normally haughty and arrogant girl. She treated him a whole lot differently than she did his other friends. She didn't hate them by any means, but she was lot less...mean with her jabs at him. Hers were almost...fond in nature. He'd have to ask her about that later. She hadn't let go of him yet either.

"Um, Tea? Everything okay?" Ben tried to convey as much concern as he could. He didn't want his friend to keep secrets from him, or feel like she couldn't share her burdens with him. His question snapped her out of her trance.

"Oh. Yeah! Everything is...great!" She was waving her hands in front of her emphatically. 'Like I can just tell you I wanted to kiss you stupid handsome face off!' she added internally.

"O...kay... Well, you know you can tell me anything right? You won't ever have to hide something from me. Okay?" He spoke softly, to which she smiled back him. "Even if it's because you have a crush on a random guy or something. That's it right?" Galatea's eyes widened a bit, then twitched as Ben kept talking.

"No, I-" Before she could speak Ben cut her off.

"That's it, isn't it? Maybe I can help you get the guys attention!" Ben started to get enthusiastic, before he sombered a bit. "I don't want you to feel like you can't start dating just because of me, okay? I won't get in the way just because I'm pathetic." He let out with a self deprecating laugh.

"Ben, that's-"

"Will the guy you have your eye on be at the bar tonight?"

Tea stopped, but sighed, he wouldn't stop unless she gave him something, though she was very touched that her happiness meant that much to him.

"Yes, he will be. But I'm not going to tell you who it is. You have to figure it out. If you do, I'll tell you why I like him. Deal?" Tea said exasperatedly, and while she was very apprehensive about this, she was also excited to a degree. She just hoped he wouldn't hate her because she was in love with him.

"Deal!" Ben said with a grin, happy that he would be able to help his friend. She deserved to be happy. Much more than him, given how shitty her life had been. "Now what do you say we go get some food? How about Curry from that Indian place up the street?"

Tea laughed happily and nodded, and Ben for the first noted how much he liked his best friend's laugh.

Xxxxxxxxx

Later, at Noonan's Bar...

The dingy bar was slightly less crummy that evening, and actually had nice ambiance to it. There was soft jazz music playing in the background, though Kara, Jason, Tea, and Ben were the only ones really in the bar. The criminal element hurried out the second they recognized Jason as the badass bodyguard of Bruce Wayne. So the only ones left were the four of them, and a few other regulars who didn't stand out much. The interior atmosphere was a mixture of nostalgia and blues. In the center of bar you had a small dancing area, with a jukebox that always seemed to either play the blues or jazz. On the other two sides, it had the bar itself and various scattered tables along with the main entrance. All along the walls, there were a few booths, and pictures of the owner and their family, along with a few neon signs. Ben was actually seated in a booth, with both Tea and Kara. Tea was seated next to him, while Kara was across from them. Tea was bobbing to the riffs of the sax from the music, and her fingers kept brushing up against his, which he just assumed was because of how tiny the booth was. She was also bickering with Kara about something random, as they often did though it wasn't as heated as they typically were. They were currently waiting for Jason to get back with the drinks. Ben stopped to really take in his best friend. She was clearly excited, about their little game no doubt. Her light blue eyes were alight with cheer and happiness he wasn't used to seeing in her. She had an admittedly beautiful smile, and she was wearing it freely tonight. Her barbs at Kara were lacking the usual venom. She was wearing a green and silver scarf he'd ordered her online from the Harry Potter merchandise store. As for the rest of her attire, she wore a black leather jacket over a gray sweater, and some basic jeans. She wore her fake glasses, and had some emerald earrings that Lex had gifted her for a ball they'd attended, and she also had a Slytherin locket that she'd begged Ben to get for her at the mall. She never showed him what she put in the locket though. Her black hair shined in the lighting of the booth, almost forming a halo around her head. All in all, she looked...stunning. Ben had never really stopped to think about how pretty she was, and for the first time since they'd known each other, Ben felt a pang of envy for the guy who'd managed to catch her eye. Ben shook his head. He refused to think like that. He would be happy for her, regardless of who it was...unless she was trying to homewreck Jason and Kara, at which pount he'd be upset with her. But she kept looking at him. Almost like she was wondering if he'd figured it out yet. She raised an eyebrow at him, noticing his eyes were darting around the bar.

He leaned over, so he could whisper in her ear. "Don't worry, Tea. I'm gonna find the guy so I can get your relationship going okay?"

If he'd been paying attention, he'd have noticed how she shivered when he whispered, or how her face fell a bit when he mentioned the other guy.

"It's okay, Ben. Let's just try to have fun okay?" She muttered half annoyed and half pleased that she meant so much to Ben, despite how dense he was. She was about to say something else, when Jason returned with their beers from the barkeep. He was wearing a typical leather jacket, red t shirt, jeans, and combat boots. He had two .45s tucked under the jacket. He set the 4 bottles on the table, and took his seat next to Kara, who immediately snuggled into his side. Jason sighed and wrapped his arm around her, but he had a wry grin on his face that showed how pleased he actually was. Ben looked on, and was immediately struck by how good of a couple his friends made. Kara was always kind and caring, whereas Jason was a little rough around the edges and had issues expressing himself. She complimented him with traits he lacked, and became better together from their relationship.

"You guys are really good together." Ben agreed with the words, but he was really surprised to hear Tea say them. "I'm happy for you, sis." Now Ben's eyebrows were near his hairline. He hadn't expected that at all. Kara seemed shocked as well, but her face lit up into a smile at Tea.

"Thank you...sis. It means a lot." Whatever moment they shared was ruined when Jason grunted.

"Enough with the mushy stuff. Let's chill out and have some fun, yeah?" He said blankly, though he tugged at Kara tighter, who just sighed in content.

"So they can get buzzed like us with their bracelets?" Ben asked curiously, as Tea didn't really drink much at their place.

Jason nodded in confirmation. "Yeah they can. Kara here is kind of an affectionate drunk." This of course prompted her to swat his arm playfully. Ben took a beer from the tray and passed a bottle to Galatea. She looked at it curiously.

"Is it good?" She asked hesitantly.

"Oh, have you never had been before? You may not like it. If you don't, I'll see if Noonan can make you a mixed drink that tastes better. Okay?" Seeing her nod, Ben offered his bottle to clink with hers. "Cheers." She looked confused a moment, but hesitantly moved her bottle to his, and clinked it. She took a sip, and immediately made a disgusted face.

"Ewwww, Ben! It tastes so gross!" She said disdainfully. She then haughtily looked down her nose at the bottle. "Your queen requires alternative refreshment." Ben laughed a bit, but slid out of the booth and walked to the bar. It was a short walk, and he took a minute to scan the crowd. His brow furrowed in confusion, because there weren't really any guys around Tea's age here tonight, and she was adamant that the guy would be here. Did...did Tea get stood up? Damn, that must be it. He'd have to comfort her with her favorite movie and chocolate when they got home, assuming she didn't drink so much she passed out the moment they got home. He had no clue how much she would drink since it was her first time doing so, so he would try to make sure she didn't go overboard. Walking up to Noonan, he nodded his greeting at the middle aged former hitman.

"Hey, Noonan. How's business treating you?" Ben asked the resident barkeep in a friendly tone. Noonan was a guy in his mid 60s, and was built like a linebacker. His hair was only slightly gray, and while he had a beer gut, you could tell her could still fight if he needed to. He had a cigar in his mouth and a lopsided grin on his face, which had a scar on the cheek. From one of his less pleasant interactions with a woman, was the explanation given. He didn't elaborate further.

"Ah, Mr. Reilly, or rather, Dr. Reilly. Welcome. I didn't pass my regards through Jason because I felt the occasion was something that needed to said between two men, yeah? So what can I do for you? I take it your date didn't like the beer, eh?" Noonan asked jovially, clapping Ben on the shoulder in a good natured way.

"She's just a friend, Noonan. And in her defense, that was her first time drinking beer. She had a...sheltered upbringing." Ben explained patiently. "Oh, I appreciated the card you sent. It meant a lot." The burly older man waved him off.

"Don't mention it, kid. You remind me a kid I used to work with. Real brain on that kid. And I know just what your friend will like. Give me a minute." Noonan went to work, mixing several ingredients in his "laboratory", before he set a drink in front of Ben.

"So, I know you would try to poison my friends or myself, but she's gonna want to know what she's drinking." That got a laugh out of Noonan, who shook his head with mirth.

"A mojito. I learned about them during some work I did in Cuba. I was taught by a bartender in Havana how to make the good ones. She'll love it." He said with a wink, and went back to his work. Shaking his hand at the antics of the older man, Ben turned on his heel and walked back to the table. Kara and Jason were talking to each other, and Tea was on her phone, playing some anime game she'd been brainwashed by social media into getting. She heard his footsteps, and looked over to him, flashing him a wide smile.

"Welcome back, Benny!" Her smile shifted into a frown a bit. "You didn't actually have to get me a new drink, you know that right?"

Ben just waved her off. "It's not a big deal. I got to catch up with Noonan, and I got you something you'll actually enjoy drinking." He then placed the cool and damp glass in front her. The sight of the clear beverage made Tea tilt her head to the side in a rather cute way.

"What's it called?" Her voice taking on the qualities of a curious child.

"It's a mojito. Cane sugar, white rum, mint leaves, soda water, and lime juice. Noonan is pretty good at matching drinks to the person." Ben exlpained as he took his seat. At hearing the explanation,

Tea nodded her head, before she took a sip. Her eyes widened immensely! "Benny! It's so good!" Ben glanced over at Noonan, who just had a smug grin on his face the whole time. "I really like it and it tastes delicious."

"Um, Tea, that has more alcohol than the beer so make sure you take it easy with it okay?" She frowned but nodded, not really seeing the big deal. In her head, she wondered why Kara would suggest drinking enough to be honest with Ben. She shook her head. She didn't need to be distracted. She had to be aware of what she did, so she wouldn't make any missteps with Ben. She was Ben's friend first, and madly in love with him second.

"Tea, if you want to drink about you can. I can swing us home. I know you've never gotten to drink before, so I'll tell you when you've had enough okay?" She nodded again at her friend. He really tried to help her live her life to its fullest.

"Okay, I will. But I don't want to get drunk. Just a little...tipsy? I think that's what Kara called it." Ben raised an eyebrow, wondering what the context 'tipsy' had come up in, but didn't think about it too hard. It was probably from Kara explaining why people drank alcohol or something.

As Ben sat with his friends, he realized how lucky he was to have them all. He was still struggling to verbalize a lot of what he felt now, but he was thankful they were so patient with him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

2 hours later. (Roughly 10pm)

Ben was webswinging through the Gotham skyline with Tea giggling on his back. She had indeed gotten a bit tipsy. She was...happy, and more carefree than he'd seen her before. She had begged him to dance with her, and they'd ended up just making goofy faces and dancing like idiots in front of Jason and Kara. That, and a few more rounds of drinks, though he'd stopped Tea at two mojitos, and that's how they ended up on their way home.

"Ben! You should teach me how to do this! It's so much fun!" Ben chuckled a bit, before adjusting his grip on the black haired beauty in his arms.

"Tea, need I remind you that you can actually fly?" This sent her into a fit of giggles.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. I don't know, I think I prefer being in your arms better though." At that, she rested her head against his chest, confusing him more. Ben was silent a few moments, before he figured he would tell Tea what his plan was.

"Hey, Tea?" She looked up from her perch in his arm.

"Yea, Benny?"

"I'm sorry your guy never showed up, and you got stuck with me. So to make it up to you, I'm going to stop by a convenience store and get you some ice cream, then we can watch Princess Mononoke when we get home. How does that sound?"

She didn't reply verbally, but she squeezed him tighter.

"Who says he didn't show up?" That confused Ben even more. They had just landed on the roof adjacent to the store he was going to stop by, so they weren't at risk for smacking into a building.

"What do you mean?"

"Ben, you're so smart but so stupid." Tea decided that fortune favored the bold, and bold she was. She kissed him on the cheek, and pulled him into a full body hug. "I didn't want to tell you, but if I didn't do it now, then I was afraid I wouldn't be able to."

Ben's heart started beating a mile a minute. "Tea?"

"I like you, Ben. Well, more than like you. You saved me from a hellish existence under the Joker. You do all these kind things for me and never ask me for a thing. You don't perv on me, even though I kind of want you to. You buy me things even though you know I'm not shallow, but you do it so I won't get bored at home. And you didn't get mad when I brought home Salazar. Honestly, it'd be a miracle if I hadn't fallen for you. You're a hero in every sense, and you are definitely my hero."

"Tea, I don't know what to say-" He felt her shake her head against his chest.

"You don't have to say anything. I know it's soon. I just needed to tell you for me okay? It was killing me not to let you know how much I love you. Even if we have to just stay friends I-MMPH" She was starting to ramble, and Ben didn't know how else to cut off her word vomit. So he tilted her head up and kissed her. It was like...lightning. Not in the getting hit by Electro sort of way, but as if every neuron in his body was arcing on his nervous system, and setting him ablaze. It was slow, and it was deep. He gently rubbed his thumb along her cheek, enjoying how flush she was. Soon, they parted, needing oxygen.

"Ben, do you mean-?" Tea sounded so insecure in that moment, and while Ben wasn't sure that if she had told him before now, he would have been able to give an answer, he knew he had one now.

"Yes, Tea. I'd like us to try and explore our feelings. But I want to take it slow okay? My...father had an issue taking things slow, and his relationships were often times trainwrecks. So I want to do this...somewhat old fashioned." She nodded, and hugged him again, placing her head on his chest, content to listen to his heartbeat.

"But we can still kiss and cuddle right?" She murmured into his chest, causing him to laugh.

"Yes, I know I care a whole hell of a lot about you, Tea, and while I don't know if it's love just yet, I know that I can't hang onto Patty forever, and that I need to move on. I loved her...but I also feel like I can love you too. So...I'd like to give it a try...okay?" Again, he felt her nod against his chest.

"...can I still have ice cream and watch Ghibli movies? And cuddle with you and Salazar?" Ben let out a laugh at that. He kissed the top of her head, before stroking her hair.

"Of course. Let's go."

xxxxxxxx

To Be Continued...

 **So No action in this chapter, and that's something you should know. I fancy myself a romance author before anything else, with humor and then action as my genres. However, there will be action again. I find it facilitates growth in interpersonal relationships in fiction quite well. And I hope this made you guys ship them a little more. :)**

 **Also, I need to commission some fan art of Ben(who looks like a mix of blonde Peter and scruffy Peter from Into the Spiderverse) and Galatea, who looks like black haired version of DCAU appearance, with glasses and slightly longer hair. Obviously, I'd have them wearing house scarves. I just need to find a good artist for the commission. That, and set up a so I can pay them LOL.**

 **Anyways, that's all for now, guys.**

 **Raizen out.**


	8. Chapter 6

**Back again. Been breaking into some streaming on twitch, working on school work, and been generally enjoying some games these past few days.**

 **For anyone who reads Karry Universe, you'll probably recognize the concept of a Kryptonian bond that they used in that story. Don't worry, I got Millie's permission. She's something of a mentor to me, and she has a lot of great ideas. I included this one because this one has a lot of potential for some really REALLY funny scenes :3**

 **Anyways, here is the new chapter.**

 **Also, shout out to DominoMags. She helped me with a few ideas for setting up things in this chapter for later. Go read her stuff. It will make you joypuke your face off. :3**

Chapter 6: The New Hero

It had been 2 weeks since Tea and Ben had starting going out. She was a lot... softer with him now. Little gentle touches here and there, tender kisses, teasing comments were just some of what Ben had experienced from Tea. She was enjoying toying with him now that she didn't have to hold back as much. Tonight was their first actual date, but more importantly, it was also the day she would debut as Ultrawoman. Ben looked at Tea, who was cuddled into his side in their bed with Salazar nestled in her arms in a ball. They'd taken to snuggling prior to going to sleep. They still had agreed nothing further beyond that. Ben watched as her chest rose and fell as she slept, and couldn't help but think how peaceful she looked. Funny enough, she reminded him of a fallen angel, her dark hair forming a halo around her and the light giving her an almost ethereal beauty. She was so far out of his league that he didn't know what the hell she saw in him. Though, that might just be the "Parker deprecation" speaking. He didn't have to understand why she'd chosen him, only had to keep her happy until she got sick of him. Ben shook his head to clear the self-loathing thoughts. His sudden movement woke Salazar, who yawned and meowed at him. Ben reached over to the cat and scratched its chin slowly, eliciting purrs from the small black cat. The noises caused Tea to stir, and she sat up a bit, still holding Salazar in her arms.

"Mornin', Benny." She yawned cutely, and stretched in a catlike like manner, which inadvertently drew Ben's attention to her toned stomach which peaked out when her pajamas rode up. She noticed, and gave him a coy smile, but didn't say anything. She just reached over and pull him into a hug, placing her head on his chest. "I can tell you were having self-loathing thoughts. You know I love you, so stop."

That stopped Ben's train of thought. Surely she was just screwing with him.

"No, I'm not screwing with you." She then gained a demure look "Though I can definitely screw you if you want." She traced a finger on his chest.

'Bad touch! BAD TOUCH!' Ben began sweating. "How are you doing that? How are you reading my thoughts?"

"It's...a Kryptonian thing. It's still new, so it's not complete. I doubt it will be a full bond. And to be clear, I'm not reading your thoughts. I just get a general idea of what you're thinking, and I fill in the blanks with how well I know you." She stuck her tongue out at him after her explanation."

"So I'll be able to feel your thoughts as well?" Ben asked inquisitively, as he ran some fingers through her black hair and marveled at its softness.

"I'm not sure. Kara said her and Jason have a full bond. Something about how he came back blew it wide open. She says he uses it to send her risque mental images at work." Tea explained in an amused tone, all the while enjoying the combined sensations of the warmth of the blankets on their bed along with Ben's fingers combing through her hair. She let out a content sigh.

"So it could be partial or it could open the Pandora's Box of giving me insight into the dirty mind you have. Wonderful." Ben stated dryly, before he scooped up Tea into his arms, causing her to squeak in surprise, though Salazar just lazily glanced between the two while he was resting on Tea's stomach. He was not amused by the jostling.

"Come on, I have to get ready for work and I want to make you breakfast first." Ben said affectionately, before placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Shouldn't I be making you breakfast? Since I'm the one who is planning is to binge like five series today on Hulu or Netflix." Tea asked with a raised eyebrow, glancing up at him with those mesmerizing blue eyes that sent shivers up his spin.

Ben was able to tear his gaze away from hers, before he coughed awkwardly. "Um, no. I like cooking for you, and I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything you don't want to." His tone was insecure, which she picked up on immediately.

"Ben, I'm not going to leave you just because you ask me to do somethings. Though, my father didn't program any knowledge of how to cook when he made me." Her face took on a look of annoyance, cursing whoever had made Ben so insecure about himself. She shook her head, before continuing "Is that opening at Lex Corp still open?"

"Uh, yeah but you don't have to take it. Lex said it was just an executive position over the biochemistry division. You're good at bossing people around, so I think you'd-OW!" He was cut off by her punching him in the arm. Lucky for him, she always slept with her suppression bracelet on, or he'd have flown through a wall.

"Don't be mean. I'm not bossy, I just like to stop your slacking sometimes. Plus..." She paused to run a finger down the side of his face slowly and sensually, causing him to gulp audibly. "I think you _like_ when I'm bossy." She looked at him coyly, like a hawk would eye a mouse.

"Er, um, well-" Ben's intelligent response began, but was interrupted by an alarm on his phone blaring to life, offering him an out. "OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME IT'S I HAVE TO GO TO WORK O'CLOCK OKAY YOU COMPLETE ME BUHBYE!" Ben then shot out of their bed, leaving an amused Tea and a slightly annoyed Salazar.

Tea chuckled at her flustered boyfriend, while stroking her snuggly companion's fur gently. She picked up the overly docile cat and looked him in the eyes. "Your papa has it bad for your mommy doesn't he, Salazar?" She then touched her nose the cats, who just meowed lazily at her before curling back up in her arms, resuming his nap. As she listened to Ben frantically try to get ready on time, she couldn't help think about just how much happier she was now. Both she and Ben had made such great strides to work past their issues, and while they still had long ways to go, the therapy with Harley was helping a lot. She knew Ben would probably always have a lot of fears as a result of Patty's death that he would carry for a long time, but he was laughing again and expressing himself beyond flat one word responses to questions asked of him. He seemed happier than he had in months, and so was she. Sure, them getting together helped her a lot, but she didn't struggle as much to express herself as she had before. She was still a little haughty because of how strong she was on a universal scale, but she made sure she never lorded over Ben. He did call her his Queen a few times though, to which she was secretly rather pleased. Ben's work in genetics for Lex and Harrison had improved as well, now that he was working in a more official capacity. The three were now being featured on many science magazines, being regarded as starting a new wave of innovation in technology and research across the country. Ben was now pretty famous for both his own intellect as well as being close friends with two of the smartest men on the planet, though many people accused him of riding coattails. Lex told him not to concern himself with the opinions of sheep, a remnant of his villain mentality. What really put Ben on the map of the science world was his doctoral thesis, which was on the use of cloning organs for transplants. Almost the second he walked out with his doctorate in genetics and cloning, he went into a LexCorp and STAR Labs joint facility to implement his work. The first use of his work was to clone a fully developed heart for a 5 year old girl, who was the little sister of one of his students.

Tea couldn't help but smile at how Ben had used his intellect to help people, though when she brought it up, his smile always became strained. She didn't know why, but Ben didn't really talk about his past with her that much beyond that he was a clone. He had promised they'd talk about it soon, and he promised he would tell her everything, she could tell he was worried about how she'd take it from his body language. She frowned at that, realizing that whatever Ben had done must have been really bad. She shook her head. Whatever Ben told her, she promised it would not change how she felt, and she told herself that she would tell Ben about her own past sins in return. Nodding to herself, she went to go make Ben a cup of coffee before he left.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Across town, Ernie Edgars was scared. She had woken up, and for once, she couldn't control her powers. She had kept them hidden from everyone, including Derek. Not because she was worried about being judged, but because as much as she liked heroes, she didn't want to be one. God knows she worried so much about Derek every single time he went out on patrol with Mr. Reilly. She knew she didn't really want to be hero. It had started during the Lightning Storm Incident in Central City. She'd woken up in a bed within Central City General Hospital, she'd been terrified. She hadn't remembered anything except being struck by lightning when she was with her family while on visiting some family there. She was out of it, but she vaguely remembered seeing her parents argue vehemently with a man a red suit. She realized about a week later that it had been the Flash. She hadn't really known why the Fastest Man Alive had been arguing with her parents until she had almost been hit by a car two weeks later. Time had slowed to a crawl, and she had thrown herself out of the way. Only when she realized that the world was still slow after she got to her feet had she realized what was happening. She had the same abilities as the Flash, though to a much lesser degree.

Back to the present, she was freaking out. She was usually able to keep her abilities under control by concentrating. But this time, she couldn't. The most she could manage was her right hand if she really concentrated. She reached for her phone, and called Derek, who answered immediately.

"Hey, Ern. What's going on? You need me to come get you?" He asked nonchalantly, though you could tell her was excited to show off for his girlfriend.

"HelpmeDerek!" Her vocal cords were vibrating so fast her words strung together and shot out rapidly. Derek's voice hitched on the line, and she heard the telltale sounds of him opening a rift. Instantly, she saw a portal open up in her room, and Derek shot out in his Sideways costume, ready to fight off who ever was going to hurt her. She watched in slow motion as he eased up in tension, though he took a step back when he saw her blurred form.

"Ern? ERNIE! What's happening?!" He started to rush over to her, but she help up a hand to stop him.

"Don'tTouchME! Icouldhurtyou! SuperSpeedoutcontrol!" Her words were as quick as lightning, but Derek seemed to get the message, halting his advance. He quickly removed his mask, and she could see every inch of his face in hyperfocus, concern written on his face.

"Ernie, I have so many questions right now, but right now, I need to know how to help you." He was unnerved, and more than a little scared. He looked like he wanted to wrap her in a hug, and while she would normally be all for getting snuggled by her Puerto Rican boyfriend and his hunky arms, she didn't want to shred him. Instead, she point to a card on her desk. The card read: 'Meena Dwahan. Speedforce Researcher and Trainer.'

Next to the name, there was a number for the labs. Frantic to help his girlfriend, he punched the number into his cell, and waited for someone to answer. On the third ring, someone answered.

"Hello?" A tired male voice answered.

"I need help! My girlfriend is having issues from Speedforce! I don't know anything about it, but she pointed to this card as how to help her!" Derek stammered out, trying to get the message across to the person on the other end of the line.

"Son, calm down. You called the right person. I didn't know anyone still had this number though. After Meena disappeared...Not important right now. Where are you? I can be there in a few minutes regardless."

"No! Just tell me where you are! I can rift us to you!" Derek didn't want to wait, and consequences be damned. Ernie needed help. This person was exprerienced with metas, so him being one wouldn't raise too many questions.

"Son, I'm the Flash. I don't know if you're also a meta, but I need you to trust me. Where are you?"

Derek opened his mouth to argue, but his words caught in his throat. He was talking to the Flash, who just happened to be his second favorite superhero!

"Son? You still there?" The voice of the Scarlet Speedster called out in concern.

"Gotham! We are in Gotham, Miagani." He then gave Ernie's specific address.

"Okay, I'll be there soon. I'm going to stay on the line with you kids, okay? In the meantime, Ernie, I want you to think about something calming."

Ernie opened her mouth to acknowledge the speedsters instructions, but her voice accelerated to unintelligible levels. The Flash, to his credit, was somehow able to understand her.

"Don't worry, Ernie. I'll be there in a flash." He said with a warm chuckle, easing some of the tension with his lame joke. Roughly 5 seconds later, a blur of red and yellow appeared in the room, revealing the hero of Central City in all his heroic glory, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Alright, Ernie. So let's help get you unphased." The Flash spoke in kind and patient tone, before moving to assist her.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Ben was swinging through the city, trying to get to his stupid teacher board meeting. It was apparently the time of year where they'd discuss curriculum. This sucked for Ben, because he needed at least ten minutes to figure out what he was going to do for the day in his classes. He usually just glanced at the end summary for whatever chapter they were supposed to cover, and then BS'd his way from memory. Ironically, he was considered the chemistry teacher in the school for his lectures, which 90% of the time were just shit he strung together on the spot from memory. Chemistry was just a breeze for Ben, but he despite his lack of usual preparation ahead of time, he was still considered one of the best teachers at the school. Maybe Peter was just bad at life in general, but Ben did not have even a third of the issues that the original had with juggling his obligations.

After a few minutes of web-slinging, he landed on the roof of Gotham High, he made sure he was out of side before sliding off his hero suit and quickly dressing in his teacher outfit. His transformation from costumed weirdo into productive-ish member of society was now complete. He stuffed his suit and gadgets into his bag, and headed to the staircase that lead inside. Exiting from the staircase, he found himself among the various students of Gotham High, milling about and laughing with their friends. He even spotted several students that he'd rescued from the Ventriloquist, who'd recently gotten out of the rehabilitation programs they'd been enrolled in to recovery from the effects of Fever. Seeing them alive and happy... it made every sin that he'd committed that night worth it. Shaking his head, he walked towards the teacher's office to check his lesson plan. He needed to start a new unit of material today, since today was the start of a new quarter. He brought a hand to his chin, scratching his five o'clock shadow as he began to muse a bit.

'Hmm...could talk about complex bonding mechanics to kick things off/. Or maybe discuss hero gadgets that utilize complex chemistry? Yeah, that could work...' Ben didn't realize it, but he was mumbling as he thought. A tap on the shoulder brought him out of his thoughts.

"Mr. Reilly, it's time for the emergency staff meeting." One his faceless colleagues told him. He honestly hadn't felt the need to get to know many of his fellow teachers. They definitely worked hard, but they weren't very interesting. Definitely not as interesting as a guy who came back from the dead, a sexy formerly evil clone, a master of the dark arts, or two billionaire geniuses. He nodded at his coworker, before he got out of his personal desk and began walking towards the meeting room. It was weird, because they'd just had a staff meeting the other day. He shook his head as he walked down the hallway, before he arrived at the board room. Idly, he noted the somber looks on the administration's faces, as well as the distinct lack of the principal. He also noted he was the last staff member to arrive. As he took his seat, one of the senior board members rose from his chair, and moved to the head of the room.

"This will not come as a surprise to some of you, but it was decided by the school's board of directors to fire Headmaster Manfred. There were...incidents involving him that could not be overlooked, and he disappeared to avoid them. As such, he is no longer at the head of this school, and we ask that you do not speak to any media figures about this to inflame the situation. We are currently working with police to address the issue. That is all."

Ben's mind was reeling from that information. The headmaster had always been creepy, and he set off pretty much every warning bell Ben had in his skull. He'd have to do some digging, which usually meant texting Jason to ask his dad. Batman knew everything after all, in Gotham at least. He shook his head. He needed to focus on his classes for the day, at least until 3 o'clock.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tea floated idly above Gotham in her Ultrawoman costume. She again, noted how the black outfit accentuated her womanly figure, and not for the first time, wondered how fun it would be to use it to tease her boyfriend. Ben, despite being a lot more twisted than his progenitor, was a lot more awkward to advances than his genetic base was, whom he had mentioned was successful enough with ladies in his life to be problematic. Tea tiled her head at that thought. She was glad Ben was an awkward mess around people in general. She had less to worry about that way. She'd hate to have to melt him, since it would waste his cuteness.

Xxxxxxx

Elsewhere

Ben felt a shiver run up his spine as he prepared to write the chemical formula for napalm on the board.

'I feel like I should be scared but also...excited?'

xxxxxxxxxxx

Back with Tea...

As she finished chuckling to herself, Ben wouldn't cheat on her. The only women on the planet who could even hold a candle to her were Amazonians, and considering there were only three that didn't seem to hate men on the planet, she liked her odds. Besides, Ben and her had a connection, which made her sigh contentedly again. Then she bonked herself on the head for being pessimistic. She moved her right hand to her left wrist to use her suits built in coms system to leave Ben a voicemail, since she didn't want to bother him directly. However, before she could, an explosion rang out of the First Bank of Gotham. She could see several henchmen types carrying bags of cash from the bank and loading them into a car. They were dressed in a similar fashion as the villain Bane, meaning they were probably his crew. Slightly pleased that one of Gotham's stronger villains decided to make an appearance on her first outing, she cracked her knuckles and began her descent. She also made sure to send Ben a message saying:

'Fun time at First Bank of Gotham. Wear your best suit;)'

Satisfied, she went to work.

Xxxxxx

Across town...

Ben felt his phone buzz as he finished grading some quizzes that he had given earlier in the day. Looking at it, he saw Tea was doing something at the biggest bank in Gotham. Shaking his head, he rose to his feet, and grabbed his bag with his gear.

'This is probably going to suck and/or be embarrassing.'

xxxxxxxxxxx

Tea landed on the ground with her arms folded, and raised an eyebrow at the thugs loading the car. They still hadn't noticed her, a fact which made her feel annoyed. So naturally, she waltzed over to the front of the car, and shoved her fist through the engine block. The crunching of metal and sounds of the engine dying caused the henchmen to stop, and gawk at her.

"Hello there, boys." She started cheerfully, before she pulled her fist out of the truck's engine. "Now, why don't you be nice and put the money back inside, hmm?"

Her demand was spoken like a request, and that caused them to start to sweat, before they opened fire on Ultrawoman. The bullets impacted her, which caused her to smile wickedly. She tilted her head coyly, as the now inert bullets fell off of her person, which caused the thugs to begin to panic.

"Holy shit, guys, I think she's like Superman!" Thug One said in terror.

"She can't be, you idiot! She doesn't dress like them!" Thug Two said in rebuke.

"But she has his symbol, though she looks a lot better than Supergirl." Thug Three stated lecherously. "What do you say, dollface? You let us go and we have some fun?"

Tea's eyes narrowed, before she got an idea. Walking salaciously over to the third thug, she walked up to him, before she slowly put an finger on his face. He grinned, but before he could reach out to her, she flicked him, sending him flying into a trashcan.

"Sorry, but I'm happily taken, and my boyfriend more man than you'll ever be." She stopped a moment, hearing a familiar heartbeat nearby. She grinned, and turned to see Ben land beside her in his full Arachnid outfit. "And here he is. Cute, isn't he?" She walked over with actual seductiveness, before wrapping herself around her boyfriend.

"Nice to see you have things in hand, babe." He paused a moment, before he looked at her seriously "You didn't kill anyone...right?"

She pouted, though it was reduced in effectiveness since her lower half of her face was covered by her mask. "Of course not. I promised I would be a good girl. And Ultrawoman doesn't go back on her word."

"Riiiight. Anyways, you encountered Bulky Beefcake yet?" He asked, but before he could answer, his spider-sense went nuts, before gunfire erupted. Reacting on instinct, he grabbed Tea, and carried them out of the way. Tea didn't say anything, realizing he was used to fighting with people who were much less durable than she was. She quickly used her heat vision to destroy the thugs' firearms, before she gave Ben a peck on the cheek.

"I don't need you to save me, but it was still sweet." She said softly, before gently caressing his face.

Ben froze, his suits lenses widening, before he opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by her kissing him, their masks only slightly hindering their contact.

"Don't apologize. I know why you did it. I'd rather you save everyone than have you assume they're as indestructible as me."

Patting his cheek, Tea began walking towards the Bank's entrance. She glanced back at Ben, who was still standing still. "You handle any who slip out while I'm handling big bad Bane. 'Kay, babe?" Ben said nothing, but he did make sure she saw him nod.

Having said her piece, she waved to the press who were now gathering, before moving inside. Who knows, maybe their kiss would make the front page.

Xxxxxxxx

Bane was not having a good day. He watched the Banks outer cameras, observing the newly arrived heroes. His eyes lingered on the woman. She exhibited the powers of the bastardo Superman. He shook his head, before put a finger on the communication device he had in his mask.

"Brothers, hold out in stalling. I will be there shortly." Bane spoke smoothly. He was lucky he kept Kryptonite on his person for such an eventuality. Ever since Luthor had gotten out of the game, others had taken to copying his habit of carrying the element with everywhere. Though, a few had learned to not use it on Supergirl. The Red Hood turned the last person who tried something on her into a macabre statue, with a message carved into his chest.

'Touch Supergirl, and you die.' Some hadn't taken him seriously, and had tried to hurt her in multiple ways after the first. Suffice to say, the Hood had made sure they were no longer walking among the living.

"No matter," Bane said to himself, "The Kryptonian will fall, and then the man-spider will too."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Tea was yawning from boredom. Bane's goons were hardly worth the effort. She could sneeze on them and their be out of commission. She glanced over to where Ben was fighting four of them on his own, taunting them every step of the way. Their groans of annoyance told her that if his powers didn't make them give up, his awful ass quips would. She scoffed, "What a dork."

Before she could tell him to stop screwing around, a booming Spanish voice came from her left. "You should have said goodbye, because death is the only result when you mess with Bane." A fist collided with her face, sending her flying into a nearby car. It was a Ferari, so some pretentious asshole probably wouldn't be happy about that. She glanced at the figure that had smacked her into the now totaled car. The guy was at least 7 feet tall, and made of a solid 350 pounds of muscle. He wore a black tank top, combat fatigue pants, steel toed boots, a Luchadore mask, and had tubes connected from his back to various points on his body. His eyes narrowed at her.

"As I thought. You are almost unscathed. You must be like the Superman." He then reached into his belt, and pulled out a glowing stone. "Fortunately for Bane, and unfortunately for the chica, Bane keeps some Kryptonite on hand in case he runs across the Superfamily." He calmly began to walk closer, not paying attention to the face Tea hadn't changed at all despite the glowing green rock. He stood in front of her, and raised a fist to crush her.

"Any last words? Perhaps for your boyfriend? Though, he shall join you soon after." Bane asked calmly.

"Yeah. I'm not Superwoman. I'm Ultrawoman." Tea spoke icily before she punched Bane in the solar plexus, sending the air out of his lungs, before she slammed his head into the pavement, causing him to pass out. She sighed, and looked away. Glancing around she noticed multiple police vehicles and EMTs had arrived, along with some reporters. She looked over to Ben, who was casually perched on a nearby speed sign, his mask lenses indicating his was curious.

"I thought your people were lethally weak to Kryptonite?" He sounded concerned. Probably thought she was faking it, and wanted to help, the sweet idiot.

"They are. I'm not. I told you, I'm perfect." She then winked at him, and seductively motioned for him to come closer with a finger gesture. "What do you say we get out of here, handsome?"

"Fine. But I want hibachi tonight." Ben stated petulantly. Tea just laughed melodically, before she scooped him up and flew them away.

Tea couldn't help but think that it wasn't a bad way to debut as a hero.

To be Continued...

xxxxxxxxx

 **So we reach the end of another chapter. I'll be honest. I needed to slow down here . School was starting to pick up, and I actually had the idea to do a HP fic. I may write the first chapter sometime on Friday and upload. In the meantime, you know the drill. I'll see you guys around.**

 **Raizen out.**


	9. Chapter 7

**Back again, guys. I'm trying not to get discouraged by how little people actually read this story compared to my others. If anyone has any recommendations for how to better promote this, or wants to send their friends this way, feel free to. I'd consider it a personal favor.**

Chapter 7: Lightning versus Spider- part one.

If you'd told Ben that he'd have to chaperone a field trip for his class at the LexCorp science fair at Freeland High in Metropolis, he'd have found a way to be sick on the day in question. Instead, he had tuned out the announcement, and was subsequently now trapped on a commuting boat with the little brats for a hour. Apparently the teacher who was supposed to buy them plane tickets for the trip to the city of the future had been robbed by the Penguin on the way to the air port, and they now had to take alternative means of transportation.

So here Ben was, sitting on a four-way discord video call with Jason, Kara, and Tea. He had chosen to do this, because his students had driven him up the wall on the first ten minutes on the bus. He at least had Ernie and Derek as buffers between him and the other little monsters, and they didn't care enough to be nosy.

"Benny~ I'm bored without you hereeeeee." Tea whined through her section on the call. Ben could only stare at her incredulously, considering he had literally just kissed her goodbye 4 minutes and 20 seconds ago at the school.

"I...don't know how you would be. Considering I know for a fact your you're sitting inside the car Lex gifted up AT the destination." At Ben's deadpan response, Tea had the decency to blush sheepishly. He did note, she started to poke her index fingers together like that one anime chick from Naruto, though Ben didn't remember her name. He did however, remember she fit 97% of the criteria of being a stalker, so Ben wasn't sure how to take this new...habit.

"But...I miss you. Even Salazar does!" She pulled up their cat-WAIT A MINUTE.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE OUR CAT IN METROPOLIS!? THIS TRIP ONLY LASTS TWO DAYS!" The other teacher chaperone on the bus gave Ben a funny look, but didn't comment. He coughed to hide his embarassment, instead choosing to whisper furiously. "Why the hell did you bring our cat, Tea?! He would have been fine at the apartment for a day!"

Tea just looked confused, whereas Jason and Kara just had popcorn, seemingly enjoying this turn of events.

"Was that bad?" Ben just palmed his face, dragging his hand down it in an exaggerated fashion.

"Tea...Most hotels are not pet friendly.." Ben tried to explain, but Tea cut him off.

"But this one is! The nice receptionist guy even let me have the room for free, and the rooms apparently have free litter boxes." Tea stated happily, convinced she'd had just subverted any trouble,

"Tea... Why did the guy give you a free room?" Ben was twitching. He'd hate to have to dangle some dickhead off a roof for trying to take advantage of Tea's lack of practical Earth knowledge.

"Oh! Apparently, Mr. Luthor took care of it!" Tea just smiled at him, her eyes crinkling in a way that was much too adorable to stay mad at.

"Did...Did Lex bug my phone?" At his statement, his phone buzzed, with a text from Lex Luthor himself, which read very simply:

'Yes I did. Because boredom. Also, clear your browser history, you degenerate.'

Shaking his head at his billionaire friend's antics, he refocused on Tea, who was now appearing to be sad about something.

"Did...Did I mess up?" She asked Ben carefully.

"Ooooh you messed up, Ben!" Kara supplied unhelpfully from her end, looking bored at her desk in the Daily Planet.

"Yeah, bum. How you gonna fix this?" Jason supplied equally unhelpful, prompting Ben to sigh.

"I'll just tell the school that I'm staying in your room tonight" Ben replied coolly, glaring mildly at Jason, who just laughed at him. The conversation devolved from there, with Tea and Kara talking about.. stuff in Kryptonese and giggling. When they occasionally heard their names, both Jason and Ben shivered slightly, wondering what evil they were plotting. Shaking his head, Ben focused on passing scenery, content to watch it pass by while sharing the occasional smile with his girlfriend on their call.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Metropolis was probably one of the most impressive cities the United States. Boasting a revolutionized public transit system, as well as numerous innovative quality of life technologies from LexCorp and STAR Labs, Metropolis had come to resemble a city of science fiction more so than science fact, particularly compared to somewhere like Gotham. Furthermore, it was a much more advanced city than any of the ones from Ben's original universe. He did note with a twinge of irritation, that outskirts of the city were still where the poorer communities had ended up at, no different other cities in the country. Apparently, even Superman couldn't be everywhere in Metropolis, and that rang the truest in the city's Freeland neighborhood, better known as 'Suicide Slum'. The only bright spots the town had were the principle of the area's high school, as well as it's residential vigilante Black Lightning. Jefferson Pierce was a homegrown hero to the people of this area. Having been both a top student growing up and winning a gold medal in decathalon. Pierce was an inspiration and a beacon of hope in the bleak atmosphere of Freeland. Black Lightning offered a different kind of Beacon, for the same reason that Batman did. Black Lightning struck fear in the local gang, the 100. They were every bit the violent lowlifes you'd expect them to be. They terrorized neighborhoods, and pushed young black men of the neighborhood into their service. That was one of their more mild habits. Before the vigilante had shown up, the 100 had been using parties as cover for abducting teenage girls for their brothels. Black Lightning had made sure everyone involved in that operation was either crippled or in coma. The 100 had yet to try something like that again, though they'd gotten more hostile towards the general population as a result. As such, tensions always ran high in the neighborhood.

It was for this reason Ben was apprehensive about the trip in general, and why he'd brought his hero gear, and had instructed Derek to do the same. While the 100 had never attack Freeland High before, Ben felt it was better to be safe than sorry. Plus, his suit was bulletproof, so he could take some hits if he needed to. He might have found his students to be annoying little shits, but they were HIS annoying little shits and he'd take a bullet for every single one of them if he had to. He was about to text Tea that the group had arrived at the hotel when someone smacked the window he was laying against, causing him to spaz and fall to the floor. Hearing loud and obnoxious laughter coming from out, he climbed back his chair to glare at the culprit. Upon seeing Tea giggling into her hand, he already knew this trip was going to be huge headache. Rubbing his temples, he began to usher the kids off the bus into the hotel, making sure they were quick so as not to attract attention from any members of the 100. Unfortunately, they were starting to get some looks from some shady guys. Sending a mental request to Tea for help, he tried to move as much of the students' stuff as he could. One of the sketchy dudes however, had tried to grab one of the bags. Ben caught him in the act, thus putting them in a rather precarious situation.

"Excuse me, I think you have my student's luggage case. If you would be so kind as to hand it over, we'll be on our way." Internally, Ben was annoyed. He'd had to rely on Tea to solve this, or else he'd risk making his identity a target for one of the most vicious gangs in the country.

"The hell you mean this is yours? I found it. That makes it mine." The guy looked like a stereotypical gangbanger, and judging from the fact he was trying to steal clothing from a bunch of kids, he was probably about as smart as the typical one as well. Certainly not a lieutenant or anything, that was sure.

"Yes, I'm sure you did. Probably from the stack of other suitcases. So unless your name happens to be Vanessa, like the suitcase says, I'd appreciate it if you'd give it back." Ben at this point flicked his gaze to the entrance, his students were watching apprehensively. They were terrified their teacher was about to get shot in broad daylight. As for the goon, he seemed to get embarrassed, because he got up in Ben's face.

"You think you're funny, don't you, cracker?" He had a hand hanging near his belt, which was probably wear he was carrying his gun. Ben wasn't worried, since he'd caught a glimpse of Tea in her costume nearby.

"I don't think I'm funny. I know I am. But in this case, I'd say I'm more just stating the obvious. Why are you even trying to steal clothes from a bunch of high school kids anyway? Shit, if you're hurting for cash, just take my cash, dude-" Ben had pulled out his wallet and was about to hand him some cash when the goon just slapped it out of his hand. The guy then pulled out a gun, and shoved it in Ben's face.

"Nah motherfucker, I don't want your money or this stupid case anymore. Now, I want your life." He said, trying to be intimidating.

"Oh good, another guy who thinks a gun makes him scary. By all means, fire away. I don't think it'll end well for you though." The 100 member looked confused for a moment, before he was rushed away by a red and black blur, before the other gang member was grabbed as well. He sent a mental message to Tea through their bond. 'Go ahead and kill them. We don't need them trying to get revenge on me since I hang around kids.'

He felt a lot of smug satisfaction coming through their bond. 'They were going to try to kill you. Of course I'm going to kill them. I just dropped them from 8000 feet in the air. Just make sure to wipe the local cameras of the altercation.'

Ben didn't reply, but he pulled out his phone, and used it to send out a data worm that deleted any and all video footage from the past hour on any multiple platforms. In the end, the only proof of the altercation would be the two grease stains on the pavement somewhere in the neighborhood, and judging from their idiotically belligerent behavior, Ben doubted they'd be missed by anyone. He shrugged before retrieving the last of the bags, and heading back inside. Hopefully the symposium would actually be interesting.

Though, before he left, he made sure to send Jason one quick text:

'How'd you like to solve Freeland's gang problem tonight?'

Jason's response was instantaneous:

'I'll get my gear.'

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Freeland High School was surprisingly nice. It definitely didn't fit the stereotype of a rundown inner-city school, that was sure. Ben was honestly impressed. Pierce took great lengths to ensure that his students had the best resources they could have, so they could rise above their individual demons and shackles the same way he had. The school itself had a sweeping entrance that lead into the school proper, which was a three story building made of brick and mortar, with various windows dotting the side of the building. The floors were impeccably clean, and the lockers were so polished you could use it as a mirror. It was..inspirational to see a man like Pierce working to give back to his community. He could have left it all behind completely, but he instead chose to be a hero without a cape. Ben found that to be truly remarkable, something he would be sure to pass along to the man when they met today. The guy was nowhere to be found, however, but the vice principal stated that he had been at a science expo that Pierce's wife was presenting at, and he would not be in until a little later due to only being able to a catch a late flight back home in time. The way the staff spoke about Pierce was akin to heroworship, as every single one of the teachers at the school were former Freeland students. He had wanted a staff trained and familiar with the everyday struggles that the people of Freeland faced each day. And if the man was not already being nominated for Sainthood, the guy used the majority of his salary to ensure every single kid at that school had two hot meals a day for _free._ He stated his reasoning was that he didn't that much money, as he'd invested his residuals from Olympic sponsorships to ensure he'd be set for life. He wasn't Bruce Wayne rich, but he'd made sure that he wouldn't need a salary from his work as principle. Yes, everyone loved Jefferson Pierce in Freeland, except the 100. They realized that smarter youth meant no freshblood for their ranks. While they'd made several efforts to intimidate Pierce, but the man was a rock, and unshakable in his determination to make Freeland a better place. The tensions had risen between the beloved principle and the 100's leader, Tobias Whale.

Ben was rather impressed. Both by the man, and by the fact the Freeland High staff member was able to tell him all that information in a single breath. Fascinating. As they walked down the pristine halls towards the gymnasium, where the expo was held, Ben was halted in his tracks by a very familiar and haughty drawl.

"Well, how surprising. Mr. Reily showed actually showed to a high school level science event. How...droll." Ben would recognize that voice in his sleep, and it prompted him to give a wry grin, turning to see the smirking face of Lex Luthor looking right at him.

"And I could say something similar to you, Mr. Luthor. Shouldn't the CEO and founder of a multi-billion dollar company have better things to do than attend something so beneath him?" Upon seeing Lex's smirk widen, they both let out a laugh and shook hands. "Good to see you, Lex."

"And you as well, my friend. Tell me, has Harry been as insufferable with his jokes to you as he has been with me?" His face betrayed his amusement with their more awkward fellow genius' antics. "How Tess puts up with him, I will never know."

"Good ol' Harry Wells." Ben said with a laugh, before his face went serious. "How's the progress on _that_ project, Lex?" They were trying to synthesize power serum for Lex snd Harry using Ben's blood. It was being done on the condition that none of their research was even thought about by anyone outside the three of them. Lex agreed, shuddering at what someone like Amanda Waller would do if she could give Ben's powers to anyone she pleased. Frankly, he was surprised that Ben hadn't had an encounter with her yet. She probably didn't find his powers to be anything spectacular or something to that effect. But the three of them had agreed that the world needed smarter heroes, rather than mere titans like Superman. Especially given the threat that Ben had been warned of by the Monitor, it paid to have an ace in the hole. While the Justice League were great, to a point, he knew that sooner or later, there would be a threat that would be too great for them to handle alone.

Lex coughed, to get Ben's attention. He'd apparently gotten lost in thought again.

"What was that, Lex?" He asked sheepishly.

"I said that the experiment was successful." To prove his point, Lex stuck his hand on the wall, and tried to move it down, only for it to stick to the wall. Ben's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He hadn't expected it to be ready so soon. "I was originally going to design our suits my self, but one of Harry's more...hero bonkers employees, Drisco Blamone or something like that, insisted he perform the design process himself. I'll probably end up adding my own...goodies to them after, but I'm curious to see what he'll have for me."

Ben nodded, just glad to have two more hands on deck for when the cards were down. "I'd offer to train you, but you've probably got all my tricks figured out."

Upon seeing Lex merely smirk in response, he knew he had hit close to the mark. "I am Lex Luthor. Of course I figured out how to best implement my new power. Of course, I was generous enough to teach Harry as well."

"How generous of you. I would recommend you learn some martial arts to go with them. The enhanced strength is great, unless you're fighting someone even stronger than that." Seeing Luthor twitch a bit, he knew the man had not been planning to train his fighting techniques that much. Ben shook his head. "We can talk more later after the expo. In the mean time, let's see how bright the next generation is, shall we?" Ben clapped his rich friend on the shoulder, and then headed inside the gymnasium.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"When I look around this room, I see the best and brightest of what our community has to offer, as well as the brightest minds of our visiting schools as well." Jefferson Pierce spoke confidently, his natural charisma captivating the audience, impressing even Lex with his eloquence. "It is for that very reason that we gather here today in order to combine two of the most noble pursuits available to us: cultivating the next generation, and working to achieve greater outcomes for our society as a whole. So for this reason, I thank you, and welcome you to the first of hopefully many LexCorp Youth Science Expo." He ended his speech to the cheers of nearly everyone there. Immediately, everyone went about their business, and to their respect booths.

Ben noticed that Ernie was clinging onto Derek, and glaring her sister Emeline. Emmy had apparently started hitting on Derek once he'd stopped hiding his form with baggy clothes. He mostly gave her the same treatment that she had given Ernie and himself years prior: ignoring her entirely. Poetic justice, but Ben was amused nonetheless. Derek had formed some interesting theories about how his powers worked, and had chosen those theories for his project. Ernie had been the observer and they often had discussions about the exact mechanics of applying his powers to other areas of physics. Ben was happy for his apprentice, though the last time he'd called Darth Sideways, the kid had threatened to drop him in the middle of the ocean. Ben had never been more proud.

Soon, the expo was in full swing, and the chatting of like-minded individuals filled the gymnasium. Ben was looking around for Tea, who was supposed to be here somewhere. He was about call her when someone put hands over his eyes.

"Guess who it is!" Came Tea's playful voice from behind him.

"If I said 'Kara', how many of my ribs would you break?" Ben replied jokingly.

"All of them." Her voice was right next to his ear, and it sent shivers up his spine. "But my Benny would never do that, because he knows how rewarding I can be riiiiight?" She whispered rather seductively into his ear, causing him to blush crimson.

"Y-yeah. You're right." He couldn't stop himself from stuttering a bit. "Hey, baby. Glad you made it." He was about say something when the rather annoyed visage of his cat was shoved into his face when he turned around.

"Meow." Ben just leaned around his cat to stare at his girlfriend.

"You brought him to the Expo."

"I did."

"Why?"

"Because he was lonely. He also is a very smart kitty, and stays close. Right, my precious furchild?" She turned Salazar around so their noses were now touching. He just seemed to shrug, if that was possible for a cat, and meowed to be let down. Tea complied, before turning back to Ben.

"He is disturbingly intelligent for a cat. Almost like he understands us sometimes." Ben commented offhandedly, before staring at Salazar for a minute.

"Stop bullying our child, Ben!" This got a lot of funny looks from passersby and Ben had to assure him he was not actually bullying anyone. He was about to go find Lex when there were several gunshots at the front of the gymnasium. Immediately Ben looked to Tea, who nodded. She then quickly moved them out into one of the secluded areas. Ben quickly pulled off his clothes, revealing his Arachnid suit underneath his work clothes. He pulled his mask from his bag, and slipped it over his face, and pulled the hood over the mask. His lenses kicked in, and he moved towards the door she'd moved them through.

"Move back to where you were but don't engage. I'll handle this. Use you xray vision and the comm device I put in your pendent to keep me updated for external threats." Seeing her nod, he lived up his mask, and kissed her. "For luck."

She smiled, before she sped away.

He engaged his suits stealth field, and slowly moved his way back into the gym, before climbing up the the ceiling. He took a moment to observe events and formulate a plan. He watched as an Albino man approached Pierce, strutting like he owned the place and everyone in it. He nodded to the six men that had accompanied him, who spread out through the gym, pointing their guns and laughing at the fear people displayed.

"Mr. Pierce. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The man spoke with mock deference. "Surely you wouldn't exclude the 100 from your little shindig?"

Jefferson was angry, that much was visible, but when he opened his mouth to respond, the man whacked him across the face with a pistol.

"Man, I didn't tell you speak. Now, it's been too long since people _really_ feared the 100. I don't think I like that very much. So I got to thinking, what's the best way for Tobias Whale to get the respect of the community back to his gang." He stopped circling around Pierce, who was glaring at him, before putting the gun to Pierce's temple. "And that's when it hit me. You're as much of a symbol as Black Lightning. So I kill you, and the people learn their fucking place again." He was about to pull the trigger when some black webbing landed on the barrel and yanked it out of his hand, right before the lights in the gym went out. There were a variety of screams of pain and sickening snaps, and about 30 seconds later all the screams of the 100 members stopped. Tobias looked around frantically, not sure who it was.

"Who the fuck is doing this?!" He yelled, before pulling out his back up pistol from his jacket, frantically waving it around.

"That would be me." A cheerful voice supplied helpfuly behind him, but before Tobias could whirl around, Arachnid punched him in the shoulder, shattering his rotator cuff and causing Tobais to scream. "Now, I heard you've been terrorizing this community for quite some time, Mr. Whale. Huh. There's petty insult in their, I'm sure of it."

"Man, fuck you! I will feed you to my fucking piranhas- MMPH!" Arachnid shut Tobias up by webbing his mouth shut. He followed it up with a spinning kick to the albino man's temple. Instantly, the crowd started cheering, and the lights came back on. He looked around, before sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "Aww shucks folks. It was nothing." However, one person wasn't happy with what had happened.

"You killed them all except Tobias." It was a simple statement, but it brought a great silence over the gym. It became oppressive. Arachnid became acutely aware of Jefferson Pierce glaring at him. Mr. Pierce while eloquent, was by no means a small man. The guy was at least 200 pounds of solid muscle slapped on a 6'4'' frame. He was a charmingly handsome African American man in his late 30s, and he didn't look happy at all. "Some of them couldn't have been more than 18 years old."

"Last I checked, waving a gun in someone's face and laughing at their fear isn't the sign of some misguided child. It's the sign of a sociopath, Mr. Pierce." Arachnid responded coldly, all humor fading from his voice.

"That doesn't give you the right to-" Jefferson began but got cut off by a new voice.

"Gentlemen." The cool and silky voice of Lex Luthor grabbed both men's attention, causing them to turn to face the smartest man alive. "I believe this is not a conversation to have around such young minds." Lex then turned to face Arachnid before nodding. "Mr. Arachnid, how nice to see you in Metropolis. While it is puzzling that you would show up here, I thank God that you were here. You put down the threats to these people's lives and saved the day." Lex then put out his hand, waiting.

Ben knew exactly what this was, and silently thanked Lex for this opportunity to get people on his side. "Mr. Luthor, think nothing of it. These are the some of the brightest stars in the sky of tomorrow, so we must ensure they shine as bright as possible, halting anything that might snuff them out before their time." He clasped hands with Lex, who smiled appreciatively. He then turned to Jefferson, who was grinding his teeth angrily.

"This isn't over." Arachnid wasn't sure what that meant but it spelled trouble. He double tapped his comms button to send Tea a signal to move Tobias out of there, and dispose of him. He received an affirmative, and in a flash of red and black, Tobias was gone.

"Well, I have to go! Duty calls. Later citizens! And remember!" He shot himself up into the rafters and out a window. "You can always count on the Amazing Arachnid!"

He landed on the roof before engaging the stealth systems again, moving around the back of the building, before finding his clothes in the hallway he'd left them in. Covering up his outfit, and grabbing his bag, he moved back into the building. He sprinted towards Lex and Jefferson, who were having a heated conversation.

"He had no right to kill them! And he dares to call himself a hero!"

"It couldn't be that you're upset he stopped Tobias more effectively than you ever did, could it?"

"I have built this community up from ashes, Luthor!"

"I understand that. But this is a good thing, you'll see. Ah! Mr. Reilly, come! I'm glad that you are safe my friend." Ben noted that Lex was still in PR mode, trying to smooth this out.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Pierce. I'm a huge fan of your work."

Jefferson stared at Ben a moment, eyeing him suspiciously, before extending a hand to Ben. "How odd that I didn't see you anywhere during the crisis. I do hope you weren't harmed by the 100 or the Arachnid."

Ben twitched a bit, something Jefferson noted. "I wouldn't worry too much about the Arachnid. He doesn't seem like the type who'd attack civilians in broad daylight. In fact, he's something of a hero to our students. They all look up to him."

"Yes, well, children should be careful who they emulate. Not all heroes should be seen as people to luck up to."

"How about Black Lightning? He basically fried those human traffickers into mush a couple years ago." Ben noticed Jefferson twitched at that. 'No freaking way...'

"Yes, well, from what I hear, that was one time thing. He'll probably be after the Arachnid now, since he just killed four young men in cold blood. So maybe the Arachnid should be careful while he's in the neighborhood."

"Oh I wouldn't worry too much. He seems like a capable fighter. And given the fact the Red Hood was sighted in Metropolis as well, I think it's safe to say the 100 won't be around much longer."

Jefferson's expression took a dark turn at that statement. Both men stood silent a moment, just staring each other down.

After Lex coughed awkwardly, Jefferson leveled a glare at Ben before granting some parting advice. "Enjoy your stay in Freeland, Mr. Reilly. But be careful. It can be very dangerous for the wrong sort of people."

Ben just met his gaze coolly. "I'm not too worried, but your concern is appreciated. Have a nice day, Mr. Pierce."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

To be continued.

 **And so concludes the set up chapter for my two chapter arc of Black Lighnting versus Arachnid! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'm sorry it took so long. I wanted to try my hand at a Harry Potter fic, and it was going well, until I decided to try something new. Long story short, my drive to work on that is dead for a while. Anyways, I hope to see you around, people.**

 **Raizen out.**


	10. Interlude 3

**Another interlude chapter, but this one is different from the others. This will focus on Kaine and Peter's lives in Marvel since Ben left. It's mostly fluff with some sad stuff, but also to give a brief glimpse into the lives of the Ben's "brothers".**

 **This is mostly to help get my creative juices flowing again.**

Interlude: Other Side of the Multiverse, Peter.

2 months ago, Manhattan, New York City...

"Cat, give it up! Please! I'm having a really bad day and I really don't want to fight you again." Came the exasperated voice of Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man. He'd been chasing one Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, for the past 10 minutes. It was not a fun time to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. First, MJ had broken up with him that a few weeks ago, with a degree of finality that hadn't been present in their prior break ups. As a result, he'd been in a bad mood and went to blow off steam on patrol. As he'd been swinging through Manhattan, he'd spotted Felicia jumping out of the Fisk Building, with the big fellow screaming at her from the roof.

So here he was, chasing down another of his exes, and trying to get answers for why she was stealing again. The dance they'd been through a thousand times over the years played out of the Manhattan roof tops, as she toyed with him before she suddenly whipped around and leaped at him. He made to dodge but she shifted he angle and was still able to tackle him. They shot off the roof, and tussled midair, before Peter had the presence of mind to create a web for them so they didn't splatter on the ground. He shot weblines from both his wrists, in a spiderweb pattern, with them landing safely, though Felicia had a look in her eye Peter didn't like.

"Hello, Peter." Felicia purred at him, lightly drawing a finger down his face. He slapped her hand away, prompting a surprised expression on her face.

"What are you doing, Cat? You told me you were done with stealing. You promised me, even." Peter grit out, trying not to let his frustration get the better of him. He narrowed his eyes at his one time girlfriend.

"Cat? Why so formal?" She asked, while trying to take his mask off again. He had none of it, and webbed her hand to her stomach. She tried to get it free, but had little success.

"Because I'm pissed you lied to me, and because I'm not here as the guy you strung along for the better part of two years, Cat. You showed me I didn't matter to you in more ways than one, be it as a friend or as your boyfriend. So I ask again. What did you steal from Fisk, Black Cat."

That same hurt expression, with guilt flitting across her eyes, settled on her face. She stopped trying to get free, and instead looked him in the eyes.

"Peter...I...we were just kids. I was a stupid teenager, trying to say I bedded the spider. When you tried to get real, I panicked." She tried so hard to explain. "Stablity has never been easy for me."

"And you think that makes what you did better? I loved you, Felicia. And for you to demand I keep the mask on when we were together hurt more than you could ever know."

"Pete...I'm sorry. I had difficulties reconciling that this cool superhero was really just some dorky guy from Queens." She lowered her head in shame.

"So you admit that you only loved the mask. Well, I guess it's better to know that for sure, rather than wonder." Peter muttered bitterly, before standing to leave. Felicia looked at him shocked, and reached out for him.

"Where are you going. Peter?" He glanced back at her, before resuming his movement.

"Away from you."

Peter didn't know it that day, but he'd finally managed to hurt Felicia Hardy the same way she'd hurt him 6 years ago.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

4 weeks later... Manhattan Subway Tunnel, New York City...

Peter was struggling to help people get out of the collapsing tunnel after Hobgoblin had set off a bomb in the subway. He'd gotten out a lot of people, but there were still so many more. He jumped over rubble piles, lifting what he could to help anyone who was trapped. He was about to move further when his suit's AI notified him of a gas leak intensifying up ahead.

"Damn it. That complicates things. Thermals picks up at least 2 more people." He cursed under his breath before shooting forward down the tunnel. After freeing a teenager he ended up at a rubble pile, a thermal reading underneath it, unharmed but trapped.

"Hang on! I'm going to get you out!" He tried to sound reassuring, but the gas leak was going to complicate the rescue.

"Peter? Is that you?" Aaaaaaaand Peter cursed. Of course it would be Felicia.

"Yes, Felicia. It's me. I'll get you out, just hang on." He reached into his belt and grabbed a Spiderbot, before placing it inside the rubble. "Did you get the bot? If so, place it over your mouth. I recently added an oxygen mask and filter feature for rescue ops. There's a gas leak, so you need to do that quickly. "

"I got it, Pete."

"Alright, Felicia. I'm moving the rubble now." As he began to move it, he realized that he was pushing his weigh limit for how much he could weigh. "Felicia, I need you to move the second you can, I can't hold this up long."

She didn't respond, but figured she heard him, as he heard her scraping against the gravel with his enhanced hearing. About 10 seconds later, he saw her by his feet, before she rolled out from under it. She then caught her breath, before she stood up, and walked over to him. Her silver hair and clothes were covered in dirt and residue, and she had some cuts on her forehead. She still offered a thankful, albeit weak smile, though.

"Fancy seeing you here, Peter." She tried to hug him, but he took a step back. "Right. Sorry. Habit."

"We need to get out of here before the gas ignites or the tunnel collapses-" Suddenly, his spider-sense went haywire, prompting him to look around. He then noticed a delayed action bomb on the pipes beside them, which was about to explode. Immediately, he pushed Felicia away before shooting webbing behind her to cushion the shove. He tried to move, but he only made it about 5 feet before the bomb exploded. The explosion ripped across his body, causing searing pain as the flames and shrapnel tore at his skin. He was thrown into a wall, which he then heard collapse, before he cried out in pain as he felt the debris begin to crush his left arm.

"PETER!" He managed to hear Felicia scream through the ringing of his ears, though just barely. He tried to look for her, but he was barely remaining conscious. He felt as she placed a hand on his face, and put his head on her thighs, trying to keep his airway cleared if he lost consciousness.

"F-Felicia...get out before the tunnel collapses." He croaked out. "I'm trapped, and I can't lift the rubble off my arm."

"No! I won't leave you. I came back to New York to try to fix things with you. I still love you, Peter, and I'm not going to leave you to die!"

Peter wanted to respond, but he blacked out. Felicia noticed this, and realized there was only one way to get him out of there. She teared up a bit, but steeled her resolve. She pulled out a vibranium knife she kept on her thigh, crying as she raised the knife.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

4 days later... Metro-General Hospital, NYC...

It was to the smell of disinfectant and the sounds of both his Aunt and a younger woman crying that Peter awoke to. He wasn't sure where he was, or what had happened to him. He tried to open his eyes, before he was promptly blinded by the sunlight flitting into his room.

He tried to speak, but it ended up as a croaking sound instead. Immediately, the crying paused, before he heard the shuffling across the floor, and a slender hand began to stroke his face...

"Peter? It's me, Felicia." Concerned was etched into her normally confident voice, something Peter wasn't used to hearing. He managed to open his eyes, before the beautiful face of New York's most infamous cat burglar came into his vision. He wanted to ask why she cared, and why he couldn't feel his left arm at all. But above all that he was thirsty.

"W-water." He tried to ask but ended as a statement. Immediately, she rushed over to the pitcher on his bedside table, before filling a cup and holding it to his mouth. He drank it greedily, before he laid his head back on the pillow. "What happened after I blacked out, Felicia?"

She looked really guilty for some reason, and she began to shift uncomfortably.

"Well, you were trapped, Peter... Your arm was caught under a pile of rubble, and you couldn't get it out. If I did nothing, you would have died, and I couldn't leave you either, because well..." Her fidgeting got worse, and Felicia Hardy never fidgeted. She took a breath, before she pressed onwards. "I had to cut off your arm, Peter, or you would have died. I didn't have any other options."

Silence. Peter said nothing, but his pulse monitor began to accelerate, before becoming erratic as he started to hyperventilate. Immediately, a nursed rushed in and began to check him, before trying to sedate him. He thrashed around the bed, hoping this was just some sick nightmare. Felicia rushed over to him, placing his head on her chest, and began stroking his hair, whispering reassurances into his ear. Slowly, as both the calming voice and sedatives worked their magic, he calmed down. He remained awake though, which he chalked up to his enhanced physiology. Felicia glanced over at his Aunt, who was sitting at the foot of his bed, rubbing one of his legs in an attempt at comfort.

"Aunt May, can I talk to Felicia alone for a moment? Please?" Aunt May looked like she wanted to object, but nodded, stepping out after she placed a motherly kiss on Peter's forehead.

Felicia let go of him, before pulling up a chair beside his bed. He noted that she didn't try to take his hand this time. He opened his mouth to break this oppressive silence, but Felicia beat him to it.

"I'm sorry, Peter." He looked at the normally confident and unshakeable woman beside him. She looked devastated.

"What for? You saved my life, Felicia-" He tried, but she cut him off again.

"I ended your hero career, something you told me was very important to you!" She cried out, burying her hands in her face. She took a moment to compose herself, before she pressed on. "And I'm sorry for how I treated you when we were together. And while I'd like nothing more than to try again now that I've matured before the selfish and childish girl I was as a teenager, I know that you don't need someone like me in your life. At least like that."

Peter was shocked by how different Felicia was now. Gone was the girl who didn't care about him at all, and only wanted to blow off steam after their tussles.

"Felicia...I won't lie and say I'm happy I had to lose an arm..." She looked down at her lap again. "But you saved my life. I'd be dead without you. I may not be able to be Spider-Man anymore...but I can help people in other ways, I'm sure." She picked her head back up, looking at him with those teary but beautiful blue eyes.

He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "As for your confession before I blacked out, I can't lie and say that I love you back right now...but I'd like to try again now that we've both grown up a bit-OW!" Felicia hugged him suddenly, jolting his pain receptors in his arm.

"Sorry, Pete! I just didn't expect to be given another chance."

"I wasn't perfect either. You were always clear you didn't want to know the man behind the mask-"

"But I do now. I want to know the man Peter Parker has become. The man who was a sweet little nerd that brought me flowers on a rooftop even when I didn't want romance."

"I promise to try, Felicia. That's all I can give right now."

"That's all I can ask, Peter, but I assure you this cat doesn't make the same mistake twice."

Peter laughed and nodded, before he laid back down. He had a smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

2 years later, Manhattan.

Life had been interesting for Peter Parker. After turning over the mantle of Spider-Man to Kaine Parker, he'd focused entirely on his career as an inventor and scientist, as well as his relationship with Felicia. She had admitted that she'd only started stealing again as an excuse to run into him. However, she was now completely focused on her job as an art appraiser and security consultant for high end art dealers. Peter, on the other hand, had worked his way up, and was now just under Max Modell at Horizon Labs. His inventions and work had made plenty of lives better, and he certainly didn't let the lack of a limb hold him back.

As for his relationship with Felicia, she had shown time and time again that she'd matured as he had, and their relationship was strong. They always communicated, and never took each other for granted. Peter had come to terms with his lost arm, and had even taken to joking about it at Felicia's high end parties she'd often drag him to, commenting his student loan officer didn't appreciate the late payment. Though, he noticed she'd mostly comment on how nicely he filled out his tux, always doing her best to reassure him and help him with his lingering insecurities from being bullied.

However, that entire path had led him to this pricey restaurant to have dinner with his beautiful girlfriend. Felicia was, as usual, stunning in work outfit, having lacked the time to change before their date. He subtly checked to feel the ring was still in his pocket, before sighing in relief at feeling the box. They conversed causally, with each smiling in interest as they discussed what they'd done that day. Finally, as the desert came, Peter stood from his chair, before he walked over to her, and went down on one knee. He watched as her hands flew to her mouth, and she began to tear up. He heard the awws of onlookers, but he ignored them, focused on the woman who'd stood beside him and helped him adjust to the drastic change in destiny his life had taken.

"Felicia Hardy, I could go on and on about how happy you make me, or how good we are together, but I know you'd rather I just skip to the part where I ask the question and give you the shiny piece of jewelry." He said with a smile, causing her to laugh in between her tears. "Will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

She yanked him into a hug, hearing her say yes about a thousand times into his ear. He placed the ring on her finger, and he swore she was glowing with how happy she was.

He stood to go back to his seat, when she caught his hand.

"Since we're in the middle of spilling secrets, I've got one for you too." She said warmly, before she took his hand, and placed it over her stomach. Instantly, his face broke into a megawatt grin.

"You mean...?"

"Mhm. You're going to be dad."

He couldn't help it. He pulled his now fiance into a hug, and just held her as the noises of the city slowly bled away.

"I love you, Felicia."

"I love you too, Peter."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To be continued...

 **As I said, this was just something to get me back into the groove for writing Crazy Life, as well as shed some light on Peter since Ben had left. Not sure when I'll update again, since Karry Dark has taken my interest at the moment. I will say that most likely the next chapter will focus on Kaine and who I plan to put him with, since that boy needs some happiness :c.**

 **until Next time.**

 **Raizen out.**


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